The Other Daughter
by Bill K
Summary: Princess Usa is drawn into a parallel world where Kousagi is alive and her mirror self has committed the most heinous crime of all.
1. The Nighttime Visitor

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 1: "The Nighttime Visitor"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

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><p>Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2012 by Naoko Takeuchi and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2012 by Bill K.<p>

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><p>Naru Park was one of the largest parks in Crystal Tokyo. Named for one of the Queen's childhood friends, it was meticulously maintained and stood as an island of nature in the midst of thirtieth century progress. Park attendants kept watch over the facility to make certain it was kept up. Animals lived and co-existed in the spacious grounds as they had for thousands of years. Children played in the park. Lovers sought out beautiful surroundings in which to share the joy of each other's company. People laughed and relaxed amid the rush of the fountains, the lushness of the green and the thousands of flowers that decorated the land.<p>

And one teen girl, with a special connection to plants, wandered the grounds as she often did, losing herself in the songs of the flowers and the admiration of the trees. Cere was a familiar sight to the park attendants. She was here nearly every week, summer or winter, strolling the grounds and taking in the smells and feeling of the green like a lover's caress.

Besides, she was one of the Princess's senshi. That also made her familiar to a lot of people in Crystal Tokyo. And she was a stunning beauty besides, with her stylized magenta hair, a figure that caught more than one eye, and a face that seemed taken from a classic marble statue of a god. Many people noticed her, but when she was in the park her attention was usually taken up by the trees and the flowers.

"Here again, Cere-San?" asked one of the attendants. He was an older man, nearing sixty. Cere thought of him almost as a grandfather figure.

"Well, fall is approaching and I wanted to make sure that the flowers were handling it," Cere replied with a vivacious smile. "Some of them get a little nervous this time of year."

"You're probably the best friend they have," he chuckled.

"Well, they're good company," Cere told him. "Better than some humans can be," she thought to herself.

Continuing her stroll, Cere's attention was caught by someone over by the pond. It was a man sitting in front of an easel. He was painting something. Piqued, the girl crossed over to him. If there was one thing Cere liked as much as plants, new clothes and Suleman Velez films, it was art. She couldn't draw a straight line without the help of a computer program, but she appreciated art. It was probably because she couldn't do it that she appreciated it so much. Creating beauty, capturing life on canvas was something fantastic to her.

As she approached, Cere could see that the picture was a still life of the pond. At least that was what it seemed to be. Closer inspection revealed a graceful female figure dancing on the water as if it were covered in ice. The figure was breath-taking, a personification of grace of movement frozen in still life, and yet suggesting movement. Cere's breath caught in her throat.

Finally she glanced at the artist. He was a tall figure, slightly gaunt in appearance, with sallow cheeks and bushy black hair haphazardly kept. Thick black frame glasses, in a day and age when corrective eye surgery was a simple procedure for ninety-nine percent of the population, sat on his face. He could have been handsome, or at least presentable if he tried, but it didn't seem like he cared. Either unaware of her presence or unmoved to acknowledge it, the man, who seemed barely twenty, continued to apply artificial hue to the chemically treated canvas with his hue stick.

"That's very nice," Cere offered, in awe of his skill.

The man kept painting.

"I really like the way you contrast the dancer with the water and the foliage," Cere offered again.

"It's not finished," the man replied gruffly, never taking his attention from his canvas. Cere raised an eyebrow.

"It's so good now, I don't see how it could get any better," Cere persisted, trying to gain his favor - - at least get him to talk to her beyond a grunt.

"Then it's a good thing I'm the one painting it," he mumbled, his hand working a hue stick around the arch of the figure's hip to thin it.

"Well you don't have to be rude," Cere scowled.

"Nothing else is working," he sighed.

"I'm just trying to be nice!" Cere barked. "You've got a lot of talent, but . . .!"

"Look, I'm trying to concentrate on what . . .!" the artist retorted gruffly, turning toward Cere as he spoke. But he stopped when he locked eyes with Cere.

For her part, Cere was amazed. This man had the most penetrating set of eyes she'd ever seen. They were like two circles of onyx in a sea of white. They held her spellbound, seemed to look inside her. Their intensity was overwhelming. For his part, his ability to articulate suddenly deserted him. His annoyance was forgotten. His painting was forgotten. Rising from his stool, the man leaned in, studying her face, dissecting it. Just a second passed. But it was a long second.

"Um," he said, struggling to focus his thoughts on something other than her, "you're - - an amazing - - you have amazing features. Would you let me paint you?"

"Me?" Cere asked. Being beautiful, she was used to being propositioned. But no one had ever offered to paint her before, other than the queen. The idea appealed to her narcissistic side. And this guy had talent. That was appealing, too.

"I'll pay you!" he blurted out. "I think you'd be a wonderful subject!" And he said it while staring at her with that white hot intensity of someone who saw things on another plane beyond reality.

"Don't worry about that," Cere chuckled. "I don't need the money. But you really want me to pose for you?"

"You'd be the perfect subject," he told her. His hand fished his PDA out of his pocket and he held it up to link with hers. "I have a studio in the Minato-Ku section. I'll download the coordinates to your PDA." Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Bring someone if you want. I don't want you to be nervous."

"You're pretty sure I'll say 'yes'," Cere replied.

"Why wouldn't you?" he asked. And he asked in a way that told her being turned down had never once occurred to him. Either he was supremely confident or supremely hallucinatory.

"Sure," Cere said, a little swept away. "I can't wait to see how I look through your eyes," and she glanced down at the PDA, "Kuroda-San. Um, my name's Cere."

But Kuroda was already gathering up his stool and easel, his previous painting forgotten in a wave of inspiration. Without acknowledging her, he walked off with a steady, determined stride.

"Um," Cere lamely offered, "thank you?"

Kuroda just kept walking, his attention focused inward. He brushed past a couple in the park and didn't even bother to excuse himself.

"Wait until I tell Jun about this," she said to herself, looking slightly confused.

* * *

><p>"Why don't you go out tonight?" Queen Serenity proposed to her recently turned eighteen year old daughter Usa. "It's going to be a lovely night."<p>

What she didn't notice, as usual, was that her daughter was trying to silently count to ten in order to prevent an angry outburst. Unfortunately she only got to four.

"I told you I have to get this paper done, MOTHER," Usa responded through clenched teeth. "It's a very important paper for school, MOTHER!"

"It'll be veeeeeeeery romantic," Serenity grinned knowingly.

"I don't have time right now!" Usa fumed. "I've got to get this done!"

"It can wait!" persisted Serenity.

"No, it can't!" Usa flared. "I'm not used to getting thirties, unlike you in YOUR school days!"

"Ami-Chan tells me you're four months ahead of all the other students in your class!" the queen snapped back. "You work too hard, Honey! Have some fun!"

"I DO have fun!" Usa argued. "I just don't let my responsibilities slide in order to have fun!"

"Might I make a suggestion?" Luna inquired with ill-concealed exasperation. She had been watching the debate grow into an argument from her perch on one of the tables.

"NO!" roared Serenity.

"Hmph!" snorted Luna and bounded out of the room.

"Mom, go run the country! I can take care of myself!" Usa barked.

"Well, forgive me for worrying about you, you ungrateful little brat!" Serenity fumed. "I'll just stop from now on!"

"That'll be the day! You worry if I eat enough! You worry if I sleep enough! You worry if I dress right! You worry if I brushed my teeth! You worry if I'll accidentally get pregnant and at the same time you worry that I'll never give you any grandkids! Sometimes I think the only time you DON'T worry is when you're downstairs raiding the refrigerator at two in the morning!"

"Well when I do, I run into you half the time!" snorted Serenity. Her daughter's coloring cheeks went unnoticed.

"Mom! Try to grasp this concept: I-am-eighteen-years-old! I can run the everyday events of my life on my own, WITHOUT YOUR HELP, THANK YOU!"

Serenity was about to respond, but Usa exited into her quarters. The door slid shut in the queen's face. Angrily the monarch kicked the door, then limped away to nurse her bruised toe. Inside the room, Usa flung herself across her bed in frustration and clutched a pillow to her chest.

"So is the latest chapter of your on-going parent-child crisis finally over?" Diana inquired from under the bed. Her gray head popped out and looked up at the Princess. "It gets so hard to listen to after a while."

"Diana, you just don't understand," fumed Usa.

"Care to wager upon that?" Diana replied cynically.

"Well, maybe YOU do," Usa sighed. "Honestly, Diana, sometimes I wish I wasn't an only child, just so Mom would have somebody else to smother!"

"It isn't very charitable to wish your troubles upon someone else," Diana gave her a wry smile, "but I must confess that I have had that particular fantasy once and again."

"I know what she's doing," Usa said. "She's trying to get me to commit to Helios. You know, get married?"

"And I thought that was at the top of your 'to do' list as well?"

"I'd do it today," Usa sighed. "But we're not ready. I see that. Helios has responsibilities that he can't leave. And I've still got some growing up to do, too."

"You?" Diana responded with more cynicism.

"I've still got so much more to know," Usa said. Diana could sense the doubts and fears begin to simmer beneath her friend's surface. "There's still a part of me that's not ready to handle being a wife, a mother, a queen - - that's not ready for the power I have within me, that I'm destined to wield. I'm sure it's that part that keeps me from ascending into my Eternal Sailor Moon phase." She paused for a moment. "The part that Wiseman reached."

"That was a long time ago," Diana advised her. "You were much younger then."

"It's still there," Usa whispered, recalling the memory of the disastrous scenario the alien Desdaemona had put her through, a memory only she, Helios and Sailor Pluto retained. Suddenly she flung herself to her feet. "Besides, Helios has work to do tonight and so do I. We'll see each other when I'm asleep." She glanced at Diana. "I'll try not to disturb your sleeping while I work."

"You assume I'll be sleeping," sniffed Diana.

Now it was Usa's turn to give her a cynical look.

"Dad, you were a bad influence on me," the gray cat muttered as she crawled back under the bed.

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><p>Cere entered the quarters she shared with her three adoptive sisters. Only Palla-Palla seemed to be there. She was in her corner, doodling on a coloring program on her computer station. The teen turned to the sound of Cere entering and gave her sister a wide smile.<p>

"Welcome back, Cere-Cere!" Palla-Palla chirped. "Did you enjoy the park?"

"It's hard not to when everything is still blooming," Cere responded. She headed over to her work station. "Where's Jun and Ves? They go out?"

"Ves-Ves is in her room," Palla-Palla answered. "She's not supposed to go out, remember? She's still house-resting."

"Still under house arrest," Cere corrected her. "That's amazing in itself. I guess she's serious about cleaning up her act this time."

"Jun-Jun went to a concert," Palla-Palla dutifully reported. "Palla-Palla wanted to go, but she doesn't like the loud singers Jun-Jun likes." Seeing Cere was working on her computer, Palla-Palla got up and wandered over. "What ya' doing?"

"Checking out an address," Cere replied as she transmitted an address from her PDA to the computer.

"You don't trust the boy who gave it to you?" Palla-Palla said innocently. However, Cere's head whipped around and she glared at the teen.

"Do you know how aggravating it is when you do that?" Cere growled. She turned back to the computer. "It's not that I don't trust him. It is Crystal Tokyo, after all. It's not like the place is dangerous. It's not Sao Paulo. But I guess old habits die hard. And lying hasn't been eradicated, so it doesn't hurt to check him out."

"That's pretty smart, actually," Ves said, standing in the doorway to her room. "How did you manage to think of it?"

"Quiet or I'll call your parole officer," Cere shot back. Palla-Palla giggled and even Ves took it in good humor. "That's him. I guess he was being straight."

"Who is he, Cere-Cere?" Palla-Palla asked eagerly.

"You mean you haven't read it yet?"

"You told me not to," Palla-Palla pouted.

"I met him in Naru Park," explained Cere. By now Ves was looking at the file, an identity file kept by Crystal Tokyo's Bureau of Internal Statistics that listed a resident's picture, name, address and contact number. "He's an artist. He wants to paint me!"

"What color?" grunted Ves. Cere responded with a flapping tongue.

"Are you going to do it?" Palla-Palla asked.

"Sure! Not only is he good," and Cere swallowed nervously, "but he's kind of cute, too."

"You think?" Ves asked.

"Yeah! You don't?"

"Personally, he looks like he could use a hot meal," scowled Ves. "But if you like the scrawny types, go for it."

"Is he as good as the Queen?" Palla-Palla asked.

"Better!" exclaimed Cere.

"Is he as good as Kaioh-Sensei?" Ves asked.

Cere paused. "He's up there."

"That reminds me. I saw Hotaru earlier," reported Ves. "She was out with Yutaka."

"How's she doing?" Cere inquired.

Ves shrugged. "I think she's getting over it. Although I still don't know why she's so bent about it."

"The Queen says that you're not supposed to kill people," Palla-Palla recited.

"Some people don't give you a choice," Ves replied. "So when are you supposed to meet up with this guy?"

"Tomorrow," Cere answered, her anticipation evident.

"Want me to come along?" Ves asked. "Just in case he tries something?"

"Ves, I am a senshi and I can take care of myself," Cere replied. Then she grew a saucy grin. "And part of me is kind of hoping he tries something."

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><p>Usa was curled up in her bed, wearing the lacy teddy that always seemed to make her father grind his teeth. Her hair was down and cascaded across the mattress behind her like a flowing pink river. Long elegant legs were pulled up to her chest and her head burrowed into the soft pillow. But a smile curled her lips and told anyone who might get a chance to glimpse her that she was having a very pleasant dream.<p>

Of course, she did have an 'in' when it came to things like that.

Outside the room, a figure silently walked up to the door. There was a familiarity to the gait of the person, as if walking the corridors of the Crystal Palace was something as natural as breathing. The figure paused before the door for a moment, expecting, or hoping, that the environmental control computer would pass her through. When this didn't happen, slender fingers reached out and tapped a code into the access pad in the wall. Obeying the command, the door hissed open without protest.

Padding silently inside, the figure stopped for a moment to grow accustom to the dark. Once this was done, she stole across the floor of the outer room to the bedroom. Pausing in the frame of the door, the figure located what she sought. Cautiously she approached Usa's bed, long trails of hair wafting behind her.

In the closet across from Usa's bed, Diana roused from her sleep. Her cat hearing had caught the slight sound of entry into the room. Thinking this odd, the gray cat rose and peeked out of the closet door. She saw a figure standing by the bed and at first thought the figure was Usa.

"No," Diana thought, "she's slimmer - - smaller."

Then Diana noticed that Usa was still in bed, sleeping. This was someone else standing over her. But who? The silhouette looked like someone she knew, but not quite. Diana was about to speak, to question who was there and why.

Then she saw the firearm in the silhouette's hand rise up and point directly at the still sleeping princess.

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. From The Dead

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 2: "From The Dead"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

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><p>Diana tried to spur her muscles to move, tried to cover the distance between her and the mysterious figure in Usa's bedroom before the figure could activate the weapon in her hand. The weapon looked like an old style laser pistol and it was pointed directly at the sleeping princess. The gray cat traversed the distance in record time, motivated by her desperation to keep the intruder from firing. But she saw the finger squeeze the trigger. She was going to be too late. Already the whine of the laser pistol's report was slicing through her ears.<p>

But the pistol's discharge tore a chunk out of the ceiling. Diana stopped short because King Endymion was suddenly there, resplendent in his gray-white tuxedo, a walking stick under the assailant's wrist. He had forced her hand up so that the laser pistol had discharged into the ceiling of the room.

For a moment, everyone in the room froze. The mysterious figure was more visible to Diana. She was little more than a teenage girl, probably fifteen to Diana's estimation. The strange teen looked up at King Endymion, realizing just now that he was there. Her eyes widened in horror. She recognized him, Diana was sure of that. It wasn't surprising, since King Endymion was one of the most famous and recognizable figures in the world.

What was surprising was that Endymion seemed to recognize her. And why not: The girl had twin tails of flowing pink hair that leisurely curled to her waist and double rabbit-ear gathers on either side of her head, as if she were trying to out-do Princess Usagi. And the face - - it was hard to be sure in the dark, but there seemed to be a distinct resemblance to Usa herself and to Queen Serenity. But how?

The shot into the ceiling had awakened Usa and the girl was beginning to stir. That broke the momentary stalemate. The intruder turned in a blind panic and ran for the door. Endymion broke into a run in pursuit of her, which brought Diana out of her inaction. Seeing Diana speeding out the door brought Usa to her feet. Unmindful of how little she was wearing, the teen raced after Diana. At the door into the corridor, though, she was met by Helios.

"Maiden!" he gasped, grabbing hold of her by the upper arms. "When you were pulled from the dream we were sharing, I became quite concerned! What has happened?"

"Somebody was in my room!" Usa related, battling to suppress the shock she felt. "Pop is chasing the guy now! Diana, too!"

"What did this person want?"

"I don't know. I think I heard a laser pistol, too." Usa became agitated. "We need to help Pop!"

"Your father and palace security are quite capable . . ." Helios began.

"To Hell with that! Crisis Make Up!"

Merging in the corridor, Helios and Usa transformed into Super Sailor Moon. Once the transformation was complete, she turned to the nearest computer station.

"Location of King Endymion!" she cried.

"King Endymion is currently on Residence Level Five South Terrace," the computer informed her.

On the terrace overlooking the south grounds of the palace from Residence Level Five, the strange girl with the pink trails of hair whirled and looked back at her pursuers. King Endymion had slowed to a walk, so as not to startle her. But he was approaching with all the determination he was famous for. To her right was a squad of four palace security guards, all armed with shock clubs. To her left were three more. Behind her on the terrace balcony was a five story drop to the ground.

"Please surrender quietly," Endymion advised her, her appearance shunted to the side so he could focus on protecting his home. "There's no reason for this to end in violence."

The teen looked like she was on the verge of tears. Who was she? What did she want? And why did she look so much like his wife and daughter? Endymion and the security forces cautiously converged on the girl, but the nearer they got, the more distraught she seemed. Finally her hand shot to her side, fingers splayed.

"Crystal Power Make Up!" she cried, sending everyone into shock.

After an all-too familiar transformation, the girl was suddenly wearing a sailor fuku. She had a maroon skirt, bow and kerchief, with maroon boots and a white cat emblem attached to the bow on her bodice. Cat's head barrettes were in her pink hair. Holding out her hand, the unknown senshi summoned the Moon Scepter. That brought Endymion up short. How? Could it possibly be?

"Moon Princess Halation!" the strange senshi cried, spraying the corridors with waves of maroon energy.

Endymion tried to shield himself with his cloak, but the power was overwhelming. Suddenly it was so hard to concentrate on anything besides the wonderful feeling he had. It was like the first time he'd caressed his precious Usako, felt her wonderful body pressed up to his and felt her delicate lips whisper into his ear that he would never be alone again.

Struggling with the euphoria he felt, Endymion looked up. The corridor was littered with fallen security guards, all as stuporous as he felt. But the strange senshi hadn't retreated. She stood in the corridor, staring at something approaching her. Endymion looked and saw it was Serenity. He thought to warn her, but couldn't bring himself to deny her this utterly blissful feeling.

Serenity approached the girl, her hand out, silently begging the girl to surrender. For her part, the girl stared in emotional turmoil, not wanting to turn on Serenity, but neither wanting to surrender to her. Serenity came closer and closer, and every step pushed the girl closer to a decision she clearly didn't want to make.

"Mama," the girl whimpered with trembling lips. Serenity stopped short. Her eyes widened.

"Kousagi?" the Queen gasped. Endymion heard it, but he didn't understand it. She was right. It was Kousagi, their long lost dead first child. But how?

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" rang through the hall. The mysterious senshi turned just in time to get a face full of pink energy. The energy coiled around the girl, trapping her. She struggled for a few moments, then surrendered to the overwhelming bliss the coils imparted in her. She sank to the floor as the pink energy dissipated, staring enraptured at nothing with a huge smile on her face. Serenity sank down next to the girl and gathered her up into a crushing hug. Sailor Moon approached with curious confusion.

"Mom?" Sailor Moon asked, seeing her mother was crying. "Do you know her? Who is she?"

"She's your sister," sobbed Queen Serenity, clutching the girl to her breast with a grip of iron. "I don't know how - - but she's your sister. She's Kousagi!"

Sailor Moon only stared in dumbfounded shock.

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><p>Ves was sleeping in her bedroom. The faint hiss of the door opening was nearly inaudible, but years of street life had trained her to hear it. Immediately she was awake and aware of her surroundings. Someone was in her room. Her eyes scanned the darkened area until they locked onto the figure stealthily approaching her. Every muscle in Ves's body tensed to move.<p>

Fortunately she recognized the silhouette.

"Palla-Palla?" Ves grunted, coming down off of her sudden adrenalin rush. "Lights to twenty percent."

The lights came on dimly in the room. Ves saw Palla-Palla standing there, in day clothes rather than her footed pajamas. Palla-Palla seemed anxious. That put Ves on edge.

"What's wrong?" Ves prompted. Without being requested to do so, Ves began pulling on a pair of pressure pants. That look on Palla-Palla usually meant trouble rather than a bad dream.

"Something's wrong with the Princess," Palla-Palla squeaked.

"Is she in trouble?"

"Not anymore," Palla-Palla replied. "But Palla-Palla thinks we should be there."

"Good enough for me," Ves nodded, shivering into a shirt. She walked out into the main room of the quarters, Palla-Palla following closely on her heels. Reaching Cere's door, she began violently pounding on it. "LET'S GO, CERE! NOW!"

"WHAT IS IT?" they heard Cere bellow back. The door slid open, revealing Cere in a filmy blue neglige and her magenta hair pinned up. "GOD, DO YOU HAVE ANY REGARD FOR ANYONE ELSE?"

"Something's up with the Princess," Ves grunted. "We got to go."

"Wouldn't you know it," Cere sagged. Ves turned and headed for Jun's door while Palla-Palla looked on sympathetically. Cere raised her hand. "Ceres star power make up!"

"Does anybody know what's happening?" Jun asked, stifling a yawn. She was wearing green pajama tops and her green hair was down.

"Something up with the Princess," Ves replied. She turned to Ceres as Jun hurried off to dress. "You expecting trouble?"

"What was I going to do? Go around looking like I just fell out of bed? At least now I look respectable," Sailor Ceres shot back. She turned to Palla-Palla. "You know where Usa is?" Palla-Palla nodded. "Well, let's go."

The three headed for the door.

"Jun, move it or we'll leave you!" Ves bellowed as they exited the room

"All right! I'm coming!" Jun cried, balancing on one foot as she tried to put her shoe on.

* * *

><p>The palace infirmary was abuzz with activity and hushed speculation. The pink-tressed intruder Serenity had identified as her dead daughter Kousagi lay on an examination table. Her senshi identity had faded, leaving a fifteen year old girl who wanted to be anywhere but here. Ami Mizuno had been awakened and was examining the computer telemetry from the medical sensors embedded in the table. Makoto was there as well, having been wakened when Ami was. She hovered near Serenity, who stood a few feet from the exam table and wrung her hands, wanting to do anything but wait and watch Ami examine this girl who shouldn't be here.<p>

Endymion and Sailor Moon stood back a few more feet, watching Ami work and watching the stranger to make sure she didn't try to escape or harm anyone else. Diana and Luna were in a corner, observing everything and ready to act. Meanwhile the other workers in the infirmary talked amongst themselves about this latest turn in the lives of the Royal Family.

"Well that confirms it," Ami said, backing away from the table and turning to the others. "DNA is a ninety-eight percent match, which is a statistical confirmation." She looked directly at Endymion. "You and Serenity are her parents."

"But...but how?" Serenity cried. "Kousagi died! I felt her die! The doctors all said she was dead!" Frantically the Queen turned to the girl on the table, hovering over her. "How did you do it, Honey? How did you come back? Please tell me!"

But the girl only turned away, looking stricken and on the verge of tears herself. Makoto leaned forward and gently pulled Serenity away.

"I have a sister?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Long ago," Endymion said softly, staring at the girl on the table. "Just after your mother and I got married. She became pregnant - - but the fetus spontaneously aborted. She miscarried."

The girl on the table turned and stared back at Endymion in shock and horror.

"Her name was Kousagi," Serenity whispered with a shuddering voice.

Just then the door to the infirmary hissed open. Everyone turned and found Rei framed by the door. Rei came in, crossed over to Serenity and gathered the Queen in her arms. No explanations were given. With Rei, none were needed.

"But," Sailor Moon continued, struggling to comprehend, "shouldn't she be older than me? This girl's younger."

"I don't understand it either, Honey," Endymion replied, his eyes not leaving the girl on the table. "But every instinct I have is telling me that this girl is your sister."

The Asteroids entered the room. This was not what they were expecting. Confused glances were exchanged by all four senshi.

"Helios?" Sailor Moon thought to the being sharing her consciousness. "Is it possible? Do you know her? Have you sensed her mind before?"

"This girl is a stranger to me, Maiden," she felt Helios reply. "And yet - - there is a familiarity to her that I cannot place. She is, in a way, much like you, and in a way, nothing like you."

"You're sure, Pop?" Sailor Moon inquired.

"Right now I'm not sure of anything," Endymion told her. "But that's what my senses are telling me."

"Then why would she try to kill me," Sailor Moon asked, a hint of resentment in her voice, "if she's my sister?"

"What?" gasped Serenity. "Kousagi? Say it isn't true! Say it's all a mistake! Kousagi, please say it! Say you couldn't possibly conceive of doing something like that!"

"I'm sorry, Mama!" the girl wailed, burying her face into the cushion on the table. Tension flowed through the room thick as molasses.

"Pallas?" Juno softly prompted

"Miss Kousagi-Ma'am is very upset," squeaked Sailor Pallas. "But Pallas can't hear why."

"Enough of this," Rei said as Minako and Artemis slid into the room.

She walked up to the examination table, her violet eyes focused on the girl the entire time. The girl seemed to sense her presence and turned to her. When she saw the look on Rei's face, though, her anxiety shot up.

"Aunt Rei, no!" the girl cried, cringing from the priest. Rei stopped, momentarily shocked by the intimate familiarity of the girl's tone.

"All right, who are you?" Rei demanded.

The stranger cringed, but Rei bore in and stared at her with all the intensity she could muster. At first Ami thought to intervene when she noticed her patient's pulse and respiration spike, but decided the logical course was to wait and see what happened. Everyone watched as Rei stared at the girl, seeing something only she could perceive. Sailor Moon suddenly felt her throat tighten and swallowed reflexively.

Then Rei gasped, her eyes widening. Her hands flew to her mouth and she stepped back. The girl still wouldn't look at her. Ami reached over and touched Rei's arm, but the priest shook her off and continued to stare in shock at the patient.

"Oh no," Rei stammered. "Kousagi, you'd made a terrible mistake!"

The girl turned to Rei, surprised and confused. Everyone's gaze followed her to the priest.

"Rei?" Serenity asked with dread.

Rei only shook her head.

"Rei, what is it?" Endymion inquired.

But Rei would only shake her head. "Endymion," she said at last, "please call Sailor Pluto."

"Pluto?" Ami said with surprise. "Is that the explanation? Is this girl from a parallel time line?"

"Please do it, Endymion," Rei only replied.

"But Rei," Serenity began, but Rei turned on her desperately.

"You DO NOT WANT TO KNOW, SERENITY!" Rei said emphatically. "You do not want to know."

"You mean she isn't . . .?" Kousagi began. Rei whirled on her.

"No!" Rei barked. Then she got hold of herself. "No, she's not."

"I'm not what?" Sailor Moon stepped up and asked. Rei only looked at her with overwhelming melancholy sympathy. "I'm not what, Aunt Rei?"

"Onee-Chan, I'm sorry!" whimpered Kousagi.

"Sorry for what?" demanded Sailor Moon. "Come on, somebody spill it!"

Everyone heard Sailor Pallas gasp. Immediately Sailor Moon turned to her.

"Did you hear what it was?" Sailor Moon demanded. Pallas only stared with growing anxiety. "Pallas, did you hear what it was?"

"Please don't make me tell," Pallas murmured, wanting to disappear into the wall. Sailor Moon knelt down to her.

"Pallas, you're not going to get in trouble, and I'm not going to be mad," she tried to reassure her fellow senshi. "But you have to tell me."

"You're not gonna like it," Pallas said, on the verge of tears herself.

"I can take it, Pallas. Please tell me."

Pallas stood there for the longest time, trying to think of a way out of doing what her princess asked. But she wasn't smart enough to lie, and lying was bad anyway. And she wasn't supposed to defy her princess.

"Sailor Pallas . . ." Rei said, her tone one of warning.

"Pallas, tell me!" barked Sailor Moon.

"Miss Kousagi-Ma'am came back to kill you," Pallas whimpered, avoiding Sailor Moon's gaze, "because in the future you're gonna kill your mommy and daddy."

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. A Divergent Path

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 3: "A Divergent Path"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>Sailor Pallas was crying. The other Asteroids were staring at Sailor Moon in shock. She could feel everyone else in the room staring at her, too. For her part, she could feel herself becoming light-headed.<p>

"This is a dream," she thought. "Helios, tell me this is a dream!"

"Would that I were able to, Maiden," she felt him respond.

"Pallas is sorry, Princess," Sailor Pallas sobbed.

"No," Sailor Moon murmured. "No, no!"

Just then a pair of hands closed around her upper arms and held her in place. Sailor Moon looked up and found her father standing there, looking intently into her eyes, being the strong, steady rock of strength she had depended upon, even when she didn't want to, for eighteen years.

"Calm down," he assured her. And at that moment she was so grateful that he was her father.

"I know it's not what you want to hear," Kousagi said. Attention turned to her. The fifteen year old girl, so similar to Usa and Serenity that it was almost impossible to not believe she was related, was still sitting on the exam table, her legs pulled up to her chest. "But as much as you hate hearing it, I hated seeing it even more."

Serenity was by her side and she touched the girl on the shoulder. Kousagi's eyes were averted from everyone, but she turned to the Queen.

"Kousagi-Chan," Serenity struggled to say, overwhelmed by everything that had happened, "what you're saying isn't possible. Usa could never do anything like that."

The teen lunged for Serenity and locked her arms around the woman, pressing her face against the Queen's chest in a manner that at once looked like she'd done it a thousand times before. Her eyes squeezed shut and she held the Queen tightly.

"Mama, you said that," Kousagi sobbed. "Right up to the very moment she . . .!" And the teen started crying.

"This can't be right," Vesta said, shock robbing her of the timber in her voice. "I know Usa and her mom fight a lot, but she wouldn't do something like that."

"She wouldn't," Juno said. "But what if it wasn't her?" Vesta looked at her curiously. "What if it was Black Lady?"

Sailor Moon closed her eyes and bowed her head. She'd been thinking the same thing Juno had.

"There's no cause for alarm," Ami announced. "The logical conclusion is that Kousagi is from a parallel time. It's a known fact that the Kousagi in this time stream died while still a fetus. And while I concede the statistical possibility that this Kousagi could be a clone of the original, the more likely explanation is that she traveled back in time, but an error of some sort brought her here instead of to her own past." She touched Kousagi's hip. "You did travel back in time, didn't you?"

Kousagi silently nodded. Serenity brushed the teen's pink hair with her hand. Helios felt the pang Sailor Moon felt.

"That doesn't mean it can't happen," Sailor Moon said softly. "I have to admit, I've always worried about - - well, Black Lady happening again."

"Black Lady was a one-time thing," Minako said as she patted Sailor Moon on the back. "It was a nasty trick Wise Man played on an innocent young girl who didn't know not to trust him. You're a lot smarter than that now."

But Minako hadn't experienced how the incident at D-Point that Desdaemona forced Sailor Moon to live through had ended. Silently Sailor Moon wondered if it really couldn't happen again.

"I'm sorry for all of this," Kousagi told them. She was still clinging to Serenity. "It was a stupid plan to begin with. I should have known I couldn't pull it off. It's just - - I didn't know what else to do. Mama and Daddy were dead, and you were bent on destroying everything - - and I couldn't stop you. You were too strong. You've always been too strong." The girl let out a sigh. "Maybe if Pluto was still around, I could have gotten to the right past."

"Something happened to Pluto?" gasped Sailor Moon.

"Yeah," Kousagi replied curiously. "She died in the twentieth century, fighting Pharaoh-90. Why, how did she die here?"

"You must be very tired, Kousagi-Chan," Serenity said, trying to change the subject. "This has been a traumatic experience for everyone. How about I fix us some tea and cookies, and we can get to know each other and sort this out. Does that sound good?"

"You're going to make the tea?" Kousagi asked with trepidation born of previous bad experience.

"Well I guess some things are universal," chuckled Minako. Most of the gathered smiled despite themselves, save for Serenity, who only frowned peevishly. And Sailor Moon, who seemed detached from the entire situation.

"Fine, I'll have the food processors make it!" Serenity huffed. She helped Kousagi off of the exam table, then extended a hand to Sailor Moon. "Come on, Usa. You can get to know your sister."

* * *

><p>They were in the Royal Chambers: Endymion, Serenity, Usa - - and Kousagi. Luna and Diana observed from the corner, for the cats had access to every room in the palace and came and went as they saw fit. Usa noticed that Kousagi seemed to have an unconscious familiarity with the room, as if she'd lived there all of her life.<p>

"She probably has," Usa thought, hanging back as Serenity doted over the girl. "If her story is true, she probably grew up in the palace with me, in her time line. I wish I knew what to make of her. I kind of understand how Jun's brother felt now." Silently the teen watched her "younger sister".

"There," Serenity beamed as Kousagi was snuggled in a soft chair, tea and cookies on a table beside her. She knelt at the teen's feet while Endymion stood to one side. "Do you feel better now?"

"Uh huh," Kousagi replied softly, almost timidly. But the girl still seemed upset.

"What is it?" Serenity gently prodded. Kousagi's lower lip quivered.

"I'm," Kousagi began, then ducked her face, as if she were hiding her tears - - particularly from Usa. "I shouldn't be a cry baby. It's just - - I never thought I was going to see you again, Mama. You or Daddy."

She felt Serenity's hand close on hers. The girl looked at the Queen.

"I know how you feel," Serenity smiled sadly. "I thought I was never going to see you. Even though it's been so long, it's something you never forget. But somehow, through some miracle, you're here. And I'm here. And your father's here, and Usa, and it's all right now." She snatched up Kousagi's hands in hers and beamed up at her. "Tell me everything, Kousagi-Chan! I want to know about every moment of your life!"

"Uh, Mom," Usa interjected. "I don't want to be a downer, but do you think we really have time for that?" Serenity looked at her, puzzled and just a little hurt. "If what she says is true, there's a real mess going on where she comes from. Maybe we should think about stopping - - uh, it - - and reminisce later?"

"It's OK. There's no hurry," Kousagi replied. Usa gave her a doubting look. "It's time travel. With the time key, I can stay here as long as I want and still return to the moment after I left. It's relative that way."

"Who told you that?" Usa challenged.

"You did," Kousagi answered with a shrug. "I figured you must have known what you were talking about. You always were smarter than me." Then she flashed Usa a taunting look, one that could only pass from one sibling intimate with the fears and frustrations of another. "But only slightly prettier, and only because you're older than I am."

"What she says does make sense," Endymion added. "About time travel, I mean. And maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to rest and regroup before tackling," and he glanced at Usa cautiously, "her task."

Usa fell silent. She didn't press to find out about what she really wanted to know. She didn't want to fight with her parents about this. Obviously the prospect of Kousagi being alive thrilled them, but not to the point that it was affecting their judgement.

Well, Endymion's anyway. Serenity seemed a little too excited about this for the Princess's tastes.

"So tell me everything about yourself, Kousagi-Chan," Serenity prodded. "Unless you're tired. Are you tired? We can let you sleep and talk in the morning."

"I suppose I can talk a little bit," Kousagi offered cautiously. "It's just . . ."

"Just what?" Serenity asked.

"It's just so weird. You're all like you should be in every way. But none of you know me." She sighed. "Well - - I was born three years after Onee-Chan, here in the Crystal Palace."

* * *

><p>"So what was this Black Lady like anyway?" Ves asked.<p>

The Asteroids were back in their quarters. Palla-Palla had immediately gone back to bed, but the others were still too keyed up to sleep. Jun gave her sister an impatient look.

"You STILL don't know your history, Ves?" Jun admonished her.

"History is boring," Ves scowled. "So are you going to tell me or not? I've heard the name once or twice, if that helps. Her Royalness is really spooked whenever it comes up."

"You know, you could always do a computer search if you really wanted to know," Cere said acidly, "instead of showing everyone what an idiot you are."

"Yeah, and you could take a flying . . .!" Ves began.

"It's too early in the morning to start bickering," Jun sighed. "Black Lady was this - - well, thing - - The Princess got changed into by a guy named Wise Man. He grabbed her when she was four or five and fed her a bunch of lies about how her parents didn't love her. You know, really played on her insecurities."

"Yeah, you know how she is about trying to live up to her mother and stuff," Cere added.

"And when she was conned into thinking that he was her only friend, Wise Man artificially aged her to sixteen and sent her off to attack Crystal Tokyo. And she had command of some black energy, too. Not her normal pink energy attacks."

"And she thinks this is going to happen again, huh?" Ves murmured, thinking back to all the times she saw her father in her own quick temper. "Guess I can see why she'd be scared of that."

"So who is this 'Kousagi'?" Cere asked. "She sure looks the part, but I've never heard of any 'sister'."

"Mizuno-Sensei said she was from an alternate time line," Jun shrugged. "Knowing Mizuno-Sensei, she probably is. I guess they had two daughters in that time line." Jun thought a moment. "Well, we better get some sleep. I think we're going to be busy tomorrow."

"Why is that?" Cere inquired.

"You know the Princess," Jun said. "She's not going to take this lying down. She's going to want to do something to prevent this 'evil destiny', even if it is in another time line. Even if it's just to reassure herself that it's not inevitable in this time line."

"And because she's an incurable meddler," Ves chuckled, pushing herself up from her chair. As she ambled off to bed, Jun noticed Cere was texting on her PDA.

"What's that?" Jun asked.

"I'm sending a message to Kuroda-San, telling him that I may have to postpone our appointment to paint me," Cere replied. "God, why does trouble always come at the most inconvenient time?"

"I guess life just hates you, Cere," Jun grinned cynically as she headed for her room.

* * *

><p>For someone reluctant to talk, Kousagi proved to be as much of a chatterbox as the Queen could be. One question from Serenity spurred a long anecdote from Kousagi, which only inspired another question from Serenity. After an hour of listening to that, Usa silently eased out of the room. Only Luna and Diana noticed her departure.<p>

Outside in the corridor, Usa walked absently, lost in thought, until she came to a stop at a junction. There she stopped and leaned against the wall.

"My Lady," she heard Diana say and glanced back at the cat. "I understand that it's been quite a shock . . ."

"That's putting it mildly, Diana," Usa said. "That girl - - 'the sister I never knew I had' - - tells me I'm going to become everything I've ever been afraid of becoming. That I'm going to murder my own mom and dad. That I become something so frightening that I pushed her to try to kill me." Usa turned to the cat. "You saw her. Couldn't you tell that she's the type who wouldn't dream of picking up a weapon, let alone using it against someone? And she was ready to blow my brains out."

"All right. I grant you that it's a rather dicey situation," Diana told her. "What are you planning to do about it?" She gave the teen a penetrating stare. "Assuming it's true."

"Come on, Diana. You saw her. You saw the way she talks, the way she thinks, the mannerisms. She's baka-Usagi lite." Usa's gaze grew distant. "She has to be Mom's daughter."

"Or a clever illusion," suggested Diana. "Remember the clever illusions Wise Man showed you."

Slowly resolution began to flood into the Princess. Diana watched as ideas began to form in the mind of the girl she'd grown up with.

"There is that possibility, isn't there?" murmured Usa, distracted by a forming plan. Then she pushed off of the wall and ventured down a corridor. "Well there's one way to find out. And even if she is who she says she is, I need to know more than what she's told me."

Diana scampered after her, curious as to her destination. Soon it became obvious.

The environ that held the Door Of Time was as unchanged now as it had been since she first ventured here as a curious four-year-old who didn't feel the word "no" applied to her. There always seemed to be a chill to the place, though the air was neither hot nor cold. The semi-twilight that shrouded the place, save for the ornate white door that stood as a beacon in the center of this vast nothing, made the place seem dank and dour. Funny how she'd never noticed it as a child.

"Puu?" Usa ventured, Diana close at her heels.

And like a spirit emerging from the mist, Sailor Pluto approached. And she was smiling. The teen could never understand when the other senshi talked about Pluto being solemn and stony. Pluto always smiled when she was around.

"My Lady," Pluto responded with grateful welcome. "How nice it is to see you again. And you, Diana. How mature you both look."

"It's been too long, Puu," Usa said, holding out a hand. Pluto gratefully accepted it and held it for a beat.

"But you do not come merely to visit," Pluto added in that uncanny way she had. "State your inquiry, though I fear I may already know what it is."

"So," Usa began, already fearing the answer, "is she?"

"From the future? Yes. She passed through the door not long ago. I witnessed this, though she did not see me."

"So it's true? Everything she said?" Usa asked, stricken. "I become Black Lady again? Murder Mom and Pop?"

"In another time, My Lady, that is not your own," Pluto assured her.

It only reassured her a little. "So what happened?" Usa requested, turning away. "Can you tell me?"

"Your father, back in the early twenty-first century, did something as innocuous as work late rather than come home to his loving wife one night. An act of love went unperformed, a seed went unplanted, and a tragedy was averted."

"And Kousagi was never conceived?" Usa commented.

"Indeed," Pluto nodded. " Instead of Kousagi being stillborn in the twenty-first century, she was born healthy in 2982."

"How? It can't be the same spirit."

"Indeed it is not," Pluto told her. "This Kousagi and the fetus who died share only a name and a genetic code. But she is your sister, in a parallel time."

"I get it. Her not being conceived split time into two branches," Usa summed up as Diana watched with keen interest. "What happened to turn me back into Black Lady? Or was I never cured?"

Pluto looked down for a moment, as if she were gathering the strength to hurt Usa. The teen forced herself to not shy.

"Your relationship with your parents was," Pluto began carefully, "different in this other reality. You were no longer an only child. You were forced to share them with Kousagi, as well as the world. It was a situation you resented at first."

"But lots of young kids resent siblings at first. They get used to it, don't they?"

"The original sentiments are always within, My Lady," Pluto advised her. "You and your sister often had a normal relationship, loving yet rivalrous. You were close to your sister. Your parents assigned you to watch over and guide your sister, and you often took to the task with relish. Responsibility was something you understood and accepted.

"But, for all the greatness within you and within her, you are still both human. Petty jealousies colored your relationship. Kousagi saw you at times as dictatorial, and an unfair standard of achievement she was expected to meet, much as you feel about the standard your mother sets for you. You often saw Kousagi as unfairly favored by your mother because she was the youngest, as indulged and sometimes selfish. Yours was a loving relationship with your sister, but one built on a precarious foundation that only needed one thing to tip the scales into war and tragedy."

"And that was?" Usa prodded her.

"Helios," Pluto said softly.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. Love And Betrayal

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 4: "Love And Betrayal"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>She had asked. Usa couldn't blame anyone other than herself. She'd asked Sailor Pluto to continue outlining her divergent history in the other time line, the one where Kousagi had lived and her parents had not. She'd prodded Pluto for an answer, for what had made her chronol-double retreat into the callous black hole that had been Black Lady.<p>

"Helios," Pluto had replied.

Usa really didn't want to hear anymore. She was too afraid.

"W-What happened?" a voice quite like hers said.

"In that time line, your sister also inherited the power of Sailor Moon from her parents," Sailor Pluto explained. "Where your pink crystal could be prodded to transform you into Sailor Chibi-Moon, Kousagi's Magenta crystal transformed her into Sailor Parallel Moon. Together you took on the minions of Queen Neherenia. But it was Sailor Parallel Moon who rescued Helios from Neherenia's clutches while you lay comatose, robbed of the Pure Dream Crystal. And it was her devotion to rescue Helios at the possible cost of her own life which inspired the Amazoness Quartet to revolt and aid in Neherenia's defeat.

"From that point on, you and your sister were rivals," Pluto continued. "Rivals to determine who would inherit the mantle of Sailor Moon, and rivals for the attention and affection of Helios. Your chronol-duplicate worked diligently, almost obsessively at mastering the skills of a senshi, sometimes to the exclusion of all else, for she secretly feared that her sister would win on simple charm. And during her nineteenth year, she finally ascended to Eternal Sailor Moon." Pluto swallowed. "But she found at the moment of her victory the man she loved in the arms of her sister."

Diana looked up at Usa to see how the Princess was taking the revelations. Usa was standing there, staring at nothing, seemingly in utter shock.

"Forgive me for distressing you, My Lady," Pluto offered.

* * *

><p>"What a terrible thing for poor Usa to go through," Serenity gasped. She and Endymion had heard the same explanation, from a different viewpoint, from Kousagi.<p>

"I didn't want it to turn out that way," Kousagi said, guilt crushing her. "I didn't want to hurt her for anything. And neither did Helios." Her lip quivered and she looked down. "But what could we do? We were in love."

Serenity gathered the teen in and comforted her. To Luna's eye, it seemed like a familiar gesture to Kousagi, and it looked like it was becoming more comfortable and more familiar to Serenity. She glanced at Endymion and saw his heart pouring out to the girl.

"Oh, Onee-chan was so mad," whimpered Kousagi. "She said the most hateful things to me and then closed herself up in her room. You and Daddy both tried to reason with her. And Helios . . ." And Kousagi dissolved into tears.

"There, I know it's painful to recall," Serenity cooed. "We can stop now if you like. It's getting pretty close to morning anyway."

"No, I can go on if you want, Mama," Kousagi said softly. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't call you that. I guess you're not really . . ."

"I think I'd like you to call me 'Mama'," Serenity beamed.

"Kousagi," Endymion asked, sitting next to Kousagi and leaning in. "Was that what triggered this transformation into Black Lady?"

"Not really," Kousagi replied. "She was just mad and hurt, and probably scared of a life of looking at me and . . ." Kousagi's lip began to quiver again. "Helios went to her. He tried to reason with her. Tried to - - I don't know, make her stop hurting. Even though he loved me, he still cared for her." Emotion began to take control of the teen. "But it all went horribly wrong. Things erupted into a fight. Onee-Chan was screaming at him, yelling the most terrible things I've ever heard. And Helios kept trying to defend me without blaming her. And finally . . ."

"Finally what?" Luna prodded. Serenity gave her an impatient look.

"She killed him," whimpered Kousagi. Serenity gasped in shock.

"You saw this?" Endymion inquired.

"I was standing right there! Her crystal came out - - but it was streaked with black. She hit him with some black energy - - and he just - - vanished." Kousagi struggled to regain her ability to speak. "She just stared for a moment, like she couldn't believe what she'd done. And then she got this look. Like it was the right thing to do; then she turned on me."

* * *

><p>"At that moment," Pluto continued, "King Endymion interceded. He stopped her from killing her own sister. He tried to calm her, but the more he tried, the more rage took hold of her. They fought, the energies loosened tearing large sections from the Crystal Palace. Queen Serenity interceded when your chronol-double overcame her father and injured him." Pluto looked down. "It was a battle I am sorry to have witnessed. Queen Serenity did everything she could, but the rage and resentment felt by that time line's Princess Usagi was too great. She killed her mother as her father lay watching. And then she killed her father. He offered no defense."<p>

Usa said nothing. Tears dribbled down her cheeks, but she said nothing. Instead, she turned and began for the temporal nexus to reality. Diana watched her, needing to do something but not knowing what.

"My Lady," Pluto said with deferential assertion. Usa stopped but didn't turn. "It was not you who did this."

"Not yet," Usa said hoarsely. "But it could be. That's what Desdaemona was trying to show me. In spite of everything I've done, there's still a taint of evil inside of me."

"My Lady," Pluto reiterated.

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Usa snapped, whirling on the senshi. "You've seen every future! Tell me it doesn't happen! Tell me, Puu!"

Pluto was silent for a moment. "I cannot, My Lady. In some futures, it will happen in one form or another. This future of Kousagi's is one such future. But there are other futures in which it does not happen. It is not a destiny set in stone, My Lady. Black Lady will only return if you give in and let her return. Your destiny is always in your own hands."

Without acknowledging that she'd heard Pluto, Usa turned and numbly exited the temporal nexus. Diana watched her leave.

"Thank you," Diana said to Pluto. "I'm certain she'll listen eventually." And she turned and scampered after the Princess.

Sailor Pluto was silent. She knew Usa heeded the words she said - - in some futures. In others, she hadn't.

* * *

><p>The Royal Chambers had another bed hastily added. Kousagi was in the bed, looking up at Queen Serenity as she sat on the side.<p>

"Are you sure about this?" Kousagi asked.

"Certainly," Serenity smiled. "I didn't want to impose on Usa's space and I wouldn't dream of putting you in a guest quarters." A thought occurred to the Queen. "You're not uncomfortable, are you?"

"Well I don't want to impose on you," the girl offered. Serenity stroked her face.

"Kousagi-Chan," Serenity smiled, her eyes misting. "Never, ever think that. You are never an imposition and you will never be one."

And tears began to well in the teenager's eyes.

"Kousagi-Chan?" Serenity inquired.

"I'm sorry. It's just," she whimpered, "you're so much like my mother - - the mother I thought I was never going to see again! It's like it all never happened. And yet I know it did!" Embarrassed, she turned away. "I shouldn't think this. You're not my mother - - not really."

"But I am," Serenity cooed. "And you're my baby, the one I've spent a thousand years wondering about and wishing I could meet. The only thing that's separated us are circumstances. That's all. I am your mother. I feel it. And Endymion is your father." She leaned in and kissed the teen on the cheek. "And after a thousand years of waiting, I've finally gotten to touch you and kiss you. Fate gave me another chance to be with you, Kousagi-Chan, and it gave you another chance to be with us. And I'm not going to question it. You shouldn't, either."

"Yes, Mama," Kousagi murmured with a feeling of familiarity. Serenity kissed her again and then softly backed out of the room.

"Your Majesty," Luna said gently once Serenity was in the outer chamber. Serenity glided over and sat in a chair next to the table Luna sat on so the cat didn't have to strain her neck looking up. "Forgive me if I overstep my bounds - - but you seem to be becoming quite attached to this girl."

"Why wouldn't I?" Serenity asked. "She's my baby come back to life."

"Technically, yes," Luna nodded. "But she doesn't belong here. Sooner or later she'll have to return to her own time, in her own reality."

"Maybe," the Queen replied. "Or maybe she'll like it here and decide to stay. Or fate may decide to keep her here. You never can predict how fate will work."

"Be that as it may, might I suggest that you don't allow yourself to become too attached," Luna advised. "Lest she have to leave."

"Luna, she's my daughter! How could I not become attached?"

"You already have a daughter."

"I know that! Do you think I don't have enough room in my heart to love them both?" gasped the Queen. "Luna, I can remember when I once had fourteen adoptees running around this palace and I loved every one of them! I'm capable of doing it again!"

"As usual, you're thinking with your heart and not your head," Luna scowled. "You hear me when I tell you that this Kousagi will probably have to leave, and possibly soon, but deep down you don't believe it." Serenity began to argue. "Ah! I know you all too well, Your Majesty. Don't even try to tell me I'm mistaken. Now I'm trying to spare you even more heartbreak and regret than you'll normally feel when what I warned you about actually occurs. And if you're smart, you'll listen." She gave Serenity a dour look. "But then, we both know how likely THAT is to occur."

The Queen merely crossed her arms, hunched her shoulders and screwed her face up into a pout.

* * *

><p>Hotaru Tomoe sat at the table she usually shared with Usa and the Asteroids in the palace commissary. But no one had shown up for breakfast. After finishing her rice and beef and noting that no one had still shown up, the tiny girl began to grow concerned.<p>

Ambling into her quarters, Hotaru sat down at the main computer station and put in a call to Usa's personal line. She didn't retire to her room. Her guardians, Haruka and Michiru, were off on a getaway to Bali - - "an eight hundredth honeymoon", Haruka had joked - - so there were no worries about privacy. The call signal went on for a long time without any answer. For a moment, Hotaru considered disconnecting. Then the screen flashed a message that the call had connected. Usa's face appeared on the screen.

"USA, YOU LOOK TERRIBLE!" gasped the girl. The Princess was muted, withdrawn, with dark circles under her puffy eyes and her hair unraveling from its twin rabbit-ear gathers. "What happened?"

"Up pretty late last night," Usa replied in a dead monotone. "Got some bad news - - some really bad news."

"What was it?"

Usa sighed. "Well, I got a visit from my long lost, supposedly dead older/younger sister. She was trying to kill me because," and Usa stopped to push down a wave of emotion, "because I'm destined to turn into a monster and kill the man I love - - and my parents."

"What? Usa, that's crazy!" Hotaru exclaimed. "Are you sure this person is who she says she is?"

"Pluto confirmed it," Usa answered flatly. And the Princess unburdened the entire story onto the one person in the universe she trusted more than anyone.

"I-I can't believe it," Hotaru said softly, stunned by the story she'd just heard. "But Pluto is right, it's not you who did this. You can't take it so hard."

"Hotaru, do you know what it's like living with the memories of being turned into a vicious monster and worrying that it could happen all over again?" Usa wailed. Hotaru merely raised an eyebrow. Usa's shoulders slumped. "Right. Stupid thing to say. Sorry."

"So I know what you've living with," Hotaru told her. "The thing that you have to remember is the circumstances that brought Black Lady back in that other reality are different from this one."

"Are they?" Usa sighed. She seemed to be mulling something over and Hotaru patiently waited. "Hotaru, remember what happened at D-Point?"

"Only what you told me, I'm afraid. What does that have to do with it?"

"I wasn't able to fight off Metallia like - - like Mom did. She found that-that weakness in me, the one that gives in to evil thoughts, and she controlled it." Usa looked down. "And I - - killed - - everyone. You. Helios. Everyone." Usa swallowed. "Just like Kousagi says I did in her reality."

"It was Metallia," Hotaru said. "Not you."

"Sure felt like me. I let her in. I couldn't fight her off."

"You were too tired from protecting everybody," judged Hotaru. "Usa, we're not just here to protect you. We're here for you to lean on. We're here to help you. You can't do it alone. Nobody can. We're here just like the Inners were there for the Queen. You know, I bet that other you didn't lean on me and the others either - - well, the other me, I mean."

"I don't remember her saying much about you," Usa admitted.

"Because you probably figured you had to prove yourself," Hotaru continued, "so you could live up to your Mom. But you've got us in this reality. And you're not competing with a sister for your parents' approval in this reality."

"I don't know," scowled Usa. "You didn't see the way Mom was fawning all over her."

"And," Hotaru added as forcefully as the shy girl could manage, "in this reality, Helios loves you."

The reaction Hotaru got from her friend wasn't what she expected. Usa stopped and stared at nothing for a few moments. Anxiety began to shade her expression.

"Um," Usa gulped. "Gotta go. I'll stop by your place later, OK?"

"Usa?" Hotaru exclaimed. But the connection had been severed.

Helios sat on the bed in his quarters, in a light trance as he monitored the dreams of others. Though his mother and Ravonna split the duties with him so he could be here in this reality with the one he loved, Helios still felt it primarily his task and performed it as often as he was able. Clad only in his flowing white pants, he silently sat in a lotus position, the gentle rise and fall of his bare chest the only sign of life from him.

"The Princess Usagi waits at the door to this room," announced the environmental control computer.

His eyes slowly opened. Brushing his long white hair back from his face, Helios rose and crossed his sparse quarters to the door. Once the door was opened, he received a surprise. Usa stood there, her eyes puffy and lined, her hair frazzled, clad only in a pink warm up jacket and pants. Her arms were crossed over her chest defensively. And those red eyes which usually contained such a playful gleam in them were now fearful and nervous.

"Maiden!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry for bothering you," Usa mumbled, looking down. Suddenly just standing there before him was the height of embarrassment.

"What troubles you so?" Helios persisted, his hand caressing her cheek as he tried to put her at ease. But she remained tense and skittish. "Has something new occurred or is this connected with what happened last night?"

"Don't you know?" she asked because she really didn't want to repeat the horrible story again.

"Maiden, I see dreams. I do not read minds." He offered her a charitable smile. "I know you got very little sleep last night, for you had only one dream and it was very short." The smile dimmed with sadness. "And it was not very pleasant."

Usa colored, but wouldn't look at him. She could only recall fragments of the dream. In it, she was five again. And a dark looming shape with her rabbit-ear hair gathers kept stealing her toys. And no matter how much she cried or protested, the shape wouldn't stop.

"Helios," she said out of the blue. "What do you think about Kousagi?"

"The girl from last night?" he asked. "Do you still question whether she is your sister from another time line? The resemblance is quite striking, both to your mother and to you."

"No, not that," Usa strained to say. "Do you - - like her?"

"I know very little about her, Maiden," Helios replied. "I confess that I cannot commend her thought process if she saw your destruction as her means for salvation. Causing you harm is not a way to obtain my allegiance."

Suddenly Usa lunged and buried her face onto his shoulder, her arms clutching him tightly. Surprised for a moment, Helios gently folded his arms around her and held her.

"You're not attracted to her at all?" Usa whispered.

"Why would I be?" he asked. "She is not you."

"She looks like me. You said it yourself."

"Your mother resembles you as well, Maiden," Helios told her softly. "I only have eyes for you. And I love more than just your physical appearance."

Usa clung tighter. Helios wasn't lying. She could sense that. He truly believed what he said. But he didn't know what happened in that other Crystal Tokyo in that other reality.

"Maiden, please tell me what is wrong," Helios asked again.

"I will," she said, hoping she wasn't lying to him or to herself. "But let's just keep doing this for now. Hold onto me until I can get my feet back under me. Please? I just - - need a little time."

"I am here, Maiden, for as long as you need me," Helios said, nuzzling her neck.

Usa turned and kissed his cheek.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. All Of Our Higher Virtues

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 5: "All Of Our Higher Virtues"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>Palla-Palla was watching a vid-stream of cartoons. She was the only one in her quarters at the moment. Ves was down in the gym working out with Kino-Sensei. Jun was touring the city on her hover-bike. And Cere was posing for the artist she'd met in the park. As one of the animated shorts ended, Palla-Palla glanced up at the chronometer on her desk. It said the time was ten forty-one in the morning.<p>

"Ten forty-one," Palla-Palla repeated to herself out loud. "Lunch is at twelve. PKE class is at two. Can't be late. Sensei will be mad."

Reassured that she remembered her day's commitments correctly, Palla-Palla started to play another cartoon. But then she stopped and looked toward the door. Getting up, she scampered over and opened the door before the environmental control computer could announce her visitors.

"Good morning, Princess!" Palla-Palla exclaimed, the drama of the previous evening forgotten. "Good morning, Miss Hotaru-Ma'am! Please come in!"

By now used to Palla-Palla's abilities and her enthusiasm, Usa and Hotaru took the invitation. Hotaru looked around for the others while Usa noticed that Palla-Palla was looking at her with concern. Even though some of the puffiness had receded from her eyes and Hotaru had helped her reclaim her hairstyle, she imagined she still looked a fright.

"Is everyone else gone?" Hotaru asked.

"Yes, they are," Palla-Palla proclaimed with an exaggerated nod. "Did you want to talk to them? Palla-Palla can call them."

"Could you?" Usa requested. "I've got something important I need to talk to all of you about."

"I've already messaged Cere," Hotaru added.

"Yes, ma'am. Palla-Palla will do it right now," she nodded. And Palla-Palla closed her eyes, her brows scrunching together and her mouth thinning to a line. Usa and Hotaru glanced quizzically at each other. Moments later, Palla-Palla opened her eyes. "They're on their way. Jun-Jun is out of the palace, so she won't be here right away." Usa and Hotaru looked at each other again.

"I guess it's the same as using a communicator for her," Hotaru offered.

"Oh Palla-Palla almost forgot," Palla-Palla added, remembering her rules of conduct. "Do either of you want something to eat or drink? Cere-Cere got us a food storage unit so we can keep snacks. Palla-Palla is supposed to offer you some, because Miss Rei-Ma'am says it's good manners."

"Thanks, but we ate before we came here," Usa answered, flashing back to the heart to heart talk she had with Hotaru over the breakfast table in the quarters Hotaru shared with Haruka and Michiru.

The door slid open and Ves entered. She was wearing a workout leotard and shorts, had a towel draped over her shoulders and was glistening with perspiration. Years of attention to survival made her scope out the room out of habit.

"I'm here. What's up?" Ves asked. She focused on Usa. "Man, you look like a wreck."

"VES-VES!" Palla-Palla barked. "That's not nice!"

"I'm just saying," Ves countered. "So what's up? It sounded important from the thought cast Palla-Palla sent."

"We've got a mission," Usa announced with steely seriousness. "A very dangerous menace has to be stopped."

"Yeah," Ves replied, her calm masking the sudden rush of adrenalin. "Anybody we know?"

"Yes," Usa nodded as Hotaru looked on sympathetically. "Me."

* * *

><p>Cere stood in front of a window, passively looking out as the mid-morning sun illuminated her face and chest. She was dressed in a tight-fitting violet skirt that ended high on her thigh and matching bolero jacket, with an equally tight fitting gold top that plunged low at the bodice and bared her midriff. Black stockings covered her legs and disappeared into violet go-go boots with stiletto heels. Some might call the outfit provocative. To Cere, it was a means to get attention and Cere always wanted to be the center of attention.<p>

Especially now, since she was posing for Hikaru Kuroda. On the way to his studio, she'd pulled up some of his art on her PDA. The man was brilliant. The piece of his she saw in the park was hardly indicative of his talent. Looking at some of his more famous work actually got her excited. If he could capture her look with that power, it would be such a thrill.

And that wasn't all that excited her. Seeing him again only reinforced a judgment that had been growing in her brain, that being that Hikaru Kuroda was a sexy beast. He wasn't classically handsome. At first glance, he seemed malnourished and unremarkable. But the more you looked, the more you noticed his eyes and their intensity, and the way his bushy black hair fell across his forehead and framed his eyes, increasing their power. And the way his soft lips seemed to have a smoldering sensuality to them, even when they were surrounded by the stubble of a day old beard. Was Hikaru handsome? No. But was he a sexy beast?

Cere snuck a glanced at him as he painted. As if sensing that she had moved, he glared at her. Suppressing a shudder, Cere resumed her pose.

Still, she figured that she was getting worked up over nothing. Kuroda had been strictly business since her arrival. He instructed her where to pose, adjusted the tinting on the window until the light was just the way he wanted, then directed her to look out the window and keep looking without showing any emotion. The entire time he demonstrated no passion or emotion for anything. His manner was focused entirely on achieving the look he wanted from her.

Kuroda took several digital images of her, then began to paint. Cere had asked him about them and Kuroda responded distantly that they were backups to refer to if he needed to do so. So she stood there while he painted. Attempts at small talk died a slow death. An hour passed and a second hour was close to expiring.

"Maybe he's just not into you," Cere thought. "Which means he's got to be gay. Too bad, too."

The pose wasn't difficult to maintain. Cere was young enough and healthy enough that standing for two hours wasn't a strain and her hand resting passively on the sill was no bother. It was just all so boring. She wanted to look at the picture. She wanted to look at his other pictures. She wanted to pick his brain on what it was like to be so fabulously talented. Even if he wasn't attracted to her, as he apparently wasn't, she wanted to be friends with this god-talent. But trying to talk to him was like trying to talk to Jun when she was looking at pictures of her dead mother. And there was nothing outside the window other than the building across the street, which was interesting for all of five seconds.

Then her senshi communicator signaled.

"Not now," moaned Cere. She brought the communicator up to her face, then noticed that Kuroda was glaring at her again. "I'm sorry, Kuroda-San, but I have to take this." She engaged the communicator. "Cere here. What's up?"

"You need to get back to the palace," Hotaru told her. "We've got a mission and Usa wants to get started as soon as possible."

Cere heaved a dramatic sigh. "All right. I'll be there as soon as I can." She looked up at Kuroda. "I've got to go. A palace summons is something I can't ignore."

"You work at the palace?" Kuroda remarked, telling Cere that he didn't really know who she was. "Well, if it can't be helped," and he hit a virtual button to his right. One of the digital images he took earlier appeared over it.

Cere started to leave. She stopped at the door and turned back to him.

"When my business is done," she began, "is it all right if I drop by here again? I'd like to look at the picture."

"That's fine," Kuroda mumbled. His attention was already back to his work and he only peripherally noticed her. Cere silently exited.

"Why do the hot ones always have to be gay?" Cere muttered as she headed for the palace.

* * *

><p>Kousagi entered the dining nook in the Royal Family's quarters like she'd done a thousand, thousand times before. Her father would be sitting on the far side of the table, in the chair that faced the door. Her mother would be across from him, her eyes shut and her head propped on her hand, valiantly trying not to nod off and fall face first into her rice. Her older sister would be on Endymion's right and Serenity's left, a virtual display of some reading material in front of her, studying as she ate. Looking around, she found her father and mother just where they normally would be, though Serenity looked a little more lucid than usual.<p>

But Usagi's chair was empty. Kousagi felt a lump form in her throat. It was a visual reminder of how these weren't really her parents and how she had lost everything. Then she noticed Serenity was looking up at her and smiling in that way that made you think everything would be all right if you only believed.

"Would you like some breakfast, Kousagi-Chan?" Serenity beamed and patted the seat of the empty chair.

"Always," Kousagi grinned ruefully and took the invitation.

"So you've got a healthy appetite, too," Serenity said with a smile. "Good. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how Usa stays alive given her diet." The Queen's eyes bulged. "Oh. I probably shouldn't have said that."

"It's OK," Kousagi said softly, "Mama. Onee-Chan didn't eat a lot in my time line either. Certainly not as much as I did." She paused a beat. "Where is Onee-Chan, anyway? Off studying again?"

"I," Serenity began, then realized that she wasn't sure what her other daughter was doing. "Endymion, have you seen Usa this morning?"

"She was with Hotaru this morning. I assume she ate there," Endymion reported. "Last night was a shock to her as much as it was to everyone. Given how close they are, my guess is that she's unburdening."

"Oh dear," Serenity said with obvious melancholy. "Maybe I should try to talk to her later."

"I can do it if you're too busy," Endymion offered, glancing toward Kousagi.

"Is this 'Hotaru' a friend of hers?" Kousagi asked.

"Well, certainly. They're as close as any two people I've ever seen," Serenity exclaimed through a mouth full of rice. When she saw that Kousagi didn't seem to recognize the name, Serenity leaned in. "You know: Hotaru Tomoe."

"Hotaru Tomoe?" questioned Kousagi. "She's alive here?" Serenity nodded. "Wow. Hotaru Tomoe died in the twentieth century - - in my time anyway. I remember when Onee-Chan came back to the thirtieth century after it happened. She was so sad. She just threw herself into her school work even harder."

Just then the door to the Royal Chambers slid open. Usa marched in, flanked by Hotaru. Endymion could see the Asteroids in the outer room. Serenity noticed Kousagi seemed to be surprised, but she didn't know if it was from seeing Hotaru, from seeing the Asteroids, or from seeing Usa. Then the Queen got a good look at Usa.

"Usa!" Serenity gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Some," the teen shrugged. "It's not important. I've reached a decision. I talked it over with everyone and they're all with me."

"And what have you decided?" Endymion asked, uncertain what his headstrong daughter had cooking now.

Usa took a beat to steady her nerves. "I want to travel to this alternate time line - - with Saturn and the Asteroids - - and stop this other me."

Silence overtook the room.

"That's an admirable decision, honey," Endymion began. "Are you certain you want to do this? I've taken on Black Lady and she's very formidable."

"Yeah, I remember," Usa whispered hoarsely. "But I don't think it's a question of 'want'. I have to do this. I feel like I'm almost responsible."

"You're not," Endymion told her. "And your mother and I could go . . ."

"NO!" Kousagi gasped, clutching Endymion's wrist. "You can't! She killed you once! Please, you can't!"

"She's right, Pop," Usa added. "You and Mom can't take the risk You're both too important."

"I could say the same about you," Endymion replied.

"But I'm Sailor Moon," she argued. "Risk comes with the job. Besides, it has to be me. I may be the only one who can talk her down. I kind of think I know what's going on in her mind. And I think she'll listen to me."

Endymion released a long, drawn out sigh. Kousagi and Usa both knew what that meant.

"I suppose there is no other real choice," he exhaled, "is there?"

"Endymion!" Serenity exclaimed in shock. "You're not seriously thinking of letting her go?"

"What am I supposed to do, Mom? Stay behind?" Usa grumbled. "There's billions of lives on that other Earth, and none of them stand a chance against Black Lady!"

"I'll go," Serenity insisted.

"No, Mom!" Usa replied firmly. "We've already gone over this. It has to be me." Before Serenity could argue further, Usa turned to Kousagi. "If you want to come, we're getting ready to leave. If you don't - - I'll understand."

Kousagi looked at her lap for a moment. Usa could see the fear in her and understood. Seeing someone you loved killed before your eyes was very traumatic. Usa felt for her.

"Look, I'll see you when we get back," Usa offered, trying to give the girl an out.

"Usa!" Serenity exclaimed anxiously. Then Kousagi stood up.

"I'll go, too," she exhaled.

"Kousagi-Chan, no!" Serenity wailed. She turned and clutched the girl by the shoulders.

"Mama," Kousagi sighed.

"I know. You're going to give me a dozen reasons why you have to go, and they'll all be totally logical and I won't be able to come up with a way to argue you out of them. But," Serenity began weeping, "I just got you back. And now I have to risk - - never seeing you again?"

"I'm sorry, Mama," Kousagi whimpered, her eyes misting too. "But I have to do it. I accepted this duty when I accepted the title of Sailor Parallel Moon." She caressed Serenity's cheek. "It was so nice to see you again. And the gods willing, I'll come back and we'll be one big happy family again. But I have to do it. Earth is depending on me. I have to save it. And I have to save Onee-Chan from herself. It is partly my fault she's like this."

Robbed of speech by her emotions, Serenity could only lean in, hug Kousagi and kiss her cheek. For a moment, Usa felt a pang of jealousy. Then Serenity extended her hand to the girl. Usa took it and felt her mother squeeze it tight. When she released them both, Serenity didn't say a word. She just sank into her chair, looking away, and cried. Usa was about to go, but Endymion caught her hand.

"Come back to me," he told her. Usa grinned. Then he looked at Kousagi. "Both of you. I'd kind of like to see what it's like to have two daughters."

Usa nodded while Kousagi beamed at him. Then they and Hotaru left to join up with the Asteroids.

"How are we going to get there?" Vesta asked. She and the other senshi were following Usa down a corridor of the palace. Saturn recognized where they were going as the temporal nexus that led to the Door Of Time.

"I'll get us there," Usa replied. When they reached the nexus, Usa stopped. She closed her eyes and reached out into open space. Kousagi seemed puzzled by the gesture.

Then Helios materialized out of nowhere. Kousagi let out a shriek.

"How!" she cried. Everybody looked at her as if the girl was mad. They saw Kousagi wide-eyed, like she was seeing a ghost. Then the girl lunged forward and clamped her arms around the Dream Guardian's neck. "OH HELIOS, I THOUGHT I'D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Before the startled Dream Guardian could respond, Kousagi's lips sought out his and she kissed him with all the passion and desperation of someone who had endured seeing the love of her life destroyed before her eyes. Pallas gasped audibly and the other senshi gaped.

At once, Usa wedged her hands under Kousagi's arms and physically separated her from Helios. Kousagi staggered back from them after Usa released her and grazed Saturn before she regained her balance. She gave Usa a look of dismayed betrayal for just a moment. The look she got in return froze her in her tracks, though, and brought her back to reality. She looked down.

"Right. I forgot. I'm sorry," she mumbled contritely. "It's just - - he looks . . ."

"Yeah. I know the story," Usa replied curtly. "Look, I'm sorry for your loss, and believe me, I understand the attraction. But this is MY Helios. Let's keep that straight."

Kousagi looked at Usa and seemed to shrink. For her part, Usa felt bad about being so harsh, but at the same time felt the need to enforce some boundaries on this interloper. The tension among the others was thick and oppressive.

"Maiden," Helios began to say.

"No. She's right," Kousagi squeaked. "If our situations were reversed, I'd feel the same way." The girl glanced away. "I hope you realize how lucky you are in this reality, Onee-Chan."

"I'm getting a sense of it," Usa answered.

Awkwardly she turned to Helios and held up her hand. Helios took it and she spoke her transformation phrase. As Kousagi watched in awe, her sister and her love combined into Super Sailor Moon. Her older sister looked back at her.

"You mentioned you have a senshi identity, too," Sailor Moon said. "Maybe you better transform."

Kousagi nodded. "Crystal Power Make Up!" she cried. Moments later, she stood before them wearing a fuku with a maroon kerchief and skirt and maroon boots with white piping at the top. Her pink bow was held to her bodice by a golden cat's head and white cat's head barrettes were in her hair. She took a steadying breath.

"I'm ready," Sailor Parallel Moon stated. Sailor Moon nodded and led them through the temporal nexus.

Inside the temporal nexus, the others struggled to keep up with Sailor Moon. Though the region was familiar to her, Saturn and the Asteroids had visited very infrequently and the vast misty region was still new and intimidating. Parallel Sailor Moon hung back as well, but to shepherd the other senshi should they fall too far behind.

"Sailor Pluto!" Sailor Moon called out.

"Why are you calling Pluto?" Parallel Sailor Moon asked. "She's dead."

Just then a figure seemed to come out of the mists. When Parallel Sailor Moon caught sight of her, she nearly fainted. The others watched Pluto walk right up to the girl.

"Greetings, Chibi-Sama," Pluto smiled warmly, as warmly as she ever had for Usa. "It has been far too long."

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. A Mirror Cracked And Broken

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 6: "A Mirror Cracked And Broken"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>Sailor Pluto smiled happily at Sailor Parallel Moon while Sailor Moon and the others watched curiously. For her part, Parallel Moon seemed surprised to see the tall, green-haired senshi. But to her credit, she recovered quickly.<p>

"So you're alive here, too," she smiled through the sadness.

"You had a counterpart in the other time line?" Saturn asked. Pluto seemed to retreat behind a mask of complacent pleasantness.

"It is complicated, Saturn," Pluto responded. "There is no single right way to answer your question. Perhaps it would be better if it were not dwelled upon." With a final affectionate glance at Saturn, Pluto turned to Sailor Moon. "I believe I know why you are here, My Lady."

"I hope you're not going to tell me it can't be done," Sailor Moon said warily.

"It can be done quite easily, for one such as I," Pluto said. "The Door Of Time is a gateway to all times and all things." She glanced at Parallel Moon. "When used properly."

Parallel Moon's eyes sought the floor.

"Then please take us to where Sailor Parallel Moon came from," Sailor Moon requested.

"As you wish, My Lady," Pluto nodded. "But first, a word of caution? If you fight yourself, you will sabotage your efforts. This is a truth for every moment of life, but no more so than now."

"Yeah. I'll try to remember that," Sailor Moon nodded.

Her message delivered, Pluto turned to the Door Of Time and pointed the Garnet Orb Staff at it. The Garnet Orb began to glow as the mist around the door swirled mysteriously. Then the door opened, though nothing could be seen behind it. Pluto turned back to the senshi.

"Take care, My Lady," Pluto told Sailor Moon. "She will be as cold and as vicious as you remember her." Then she turned to Parallel Moon. "And to you, Chibi-Sama, belief will stand you in greater stead than strength of arm. Belief in her and belief in yourself."

Parallel Moon swallowed and then nodded. Wordlessly, Sailor Moon went through the door of time. Obediently her senshi followed.

"Well I have to say the palace has looked better," Sailor Juno judged.

They were standing outside the Crystal Palace, in what once had been the Queen's prized garden. The entire southwest corner of the building had been blown away and parts of the northwest corner were teetering and threatening to fall in on itself. No light came from any of the windows or balconies. No life seemed to emanate from the structure.

"Oh my!" wailed Sailor Ceres. She was kneeling amid what was left of the garden. It was all burned cinders and charred ruins. Several of the old growth trees that had shaded the garden and the palace, including the one that had housed the spirit of Gallan, were burnt embers and smoldering husks. "Why would someone do this?"

"She's hurt and she's angry," Sailor Moon said. Saturn watched her and her friend seemed ashamed. "Everything she had and everything she ever wanted has been taken from her in her eyes. She's just lashing out - - determined to make the world hurt as much as she does."

Saturn put her hand on Sailor Moon's shoulder, but her friend didn't acknowledge it.

"Come on," Sailor Moon sighed. "Let's go find her."

The senshi fell in behind Sailor Moon. Nobody knew if she knew where she was going precisely. They all assumed she knew. As they walked, Vesta glanced around warily for any signs of attack. The streets were deserted; not even bodies remained. As she scanned, she also glanced at her team. Parallel Moon was detached from them, unwilling to look at anyone. Vesta also sensed the senshi's trepidation. Saturn was concerned more about Sailor Moon than anything. Her rebuilt glaive hung loosely in her hand, dangerously so. The others were just on a general alert for trouble.

"So, Sailor Parallel Moon," Juno began, "if this world is a parallel of ours, were there Asteroid Senshi in this reality?"

"No," Parallel Moon answered, softly, to the point, and hoping there was no follow up.

"What happened?" Juno inquired, because she felt compelled to go there.

Parallel Moon kept walking, her gaze down. Pallas looked at her, swallowed, then looked down as well.

Then a scream of sheer terror pierced the ominous silence. Spurred into action, Sailor Moon broke into a run and headed for the sound. Vesta and Saturn quickly fell in behind her. Juno, Pallas and Ceres hurried to catch up. But Sailor Parallel Moon stood rooted to the spot. Pallas looked back at her. She could sense the fear radiating from the senshi. Pallas wanted to stop and prod the girl into following, but if she did she'd fall further behind. As short as she was, it was already difficult to keep up with the others. Finally Parallel Moon bowed her head and spat something that Pallas couldn't hear, and only then headed in their direction.

Rounding the corner of a building with a huge hole chewed out of the side, Sailor Moon found - - herself. She was a mirror image of the Princess, dressed in a red off the shoulder gown. The wind blew her pink hair trails and the folds of her gown as she stood over a crying, terrified eight year old boy. The boy sat at her feet, looking up at her and wailing as if he were looking into the eyes of the grim reaper. This Usagi, this Black Lady stared down at him with angry venom. Black energy smoldered from her hands.

"Yeah, cry!" she bellowed down at the child. "See what it gets you! You don't have your parents anymore? You don't have anyone who loves you anymore? WELCOME TO THE CLUB!"

"Holy . . ." murmured Vesta.

Sailor Moon only stared in horror. For she had noticed the two scorch marks on either side of the little boy and the fine ash that the wind was sprinkling into the air near him. For a moment, her breakfast began to well up in her stomach.

"Saturn, Vesta," Sailor Moon hissed. "Be ready to stop her. Any means necessary."

Lightly so as not to attract attention, but as quickly as they could, the three senshi moved forward, cutting the distance between them and Black Lady before they had to act. They fully expected Black Lady to launch her black energy at any moment. But to their surprise, Black Lady turned away and walked off, leaving the wailing child in the dust. Quickly Sailor Moon signaled Vesta. As she and Saturn placed themselves between Black Lady and the child, Vesta swooped in and lifted him up, then carried him back to the other senshi.

At once Black Lady stopped. She tilted her head, receiving impressions. Then she turned to them. Her surprise was instant and all-encompassing.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her vision was locked on Sailor Moon, so much so that she didn't really notice Saturn.

"I'm you," Sailor Moon told her.

"Then who does that make me?" Black Lady bristled.

"I'm from a different time line," Sailor Moon told her, offering the olive branch. "I'm here to help."

Black Lady's mouth curled back into a sneer. "I don't need any help. I can kill everybody all by myself."

"Why?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Because I want to!" snapped Black Lady. "Because I have nothing left! Because there's no reason anybody else should be happy now!"

"Look," Sailor Moon began, walking up to her. "I understand what you're feeling."

"DO YOU?" raged Black Lady. "Is Helios dead in your time line? Are Mom and Pop dead?"

"No."

"THEN YOU DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND, DO YOU?"

"But I've been in situations where they were," Sailor Moon countered. "I had Pop die in my arms. I knelt at Helios's dead body and cried for him. I know what you're feeling."

"You need to keep your stories straight," Black Lady sneered. "Either they're dead or they're not."

"It's complicated," Sailor Moon shook her head. "The bottom line is you're hurting. And I get that. You want to bring the whole world down on top of your head so you'll stop hurting."

"Wrong," Black Lady said defiantly. "I just decided to share my pain - - because I don't care anymore whether anyone else gets hurt or not. Not anymore."

"Usagi!" Sailor Moon cried. But Black Lady was surveying the collection of senshi facing her now.

"Wow, look at them. You must be from another time. I guess Mom didn't," Black Lady began bitterly. Then she stopped. A haunted look replaced the cynicism in her countenance. "Saturn?" Black Lady gasped, and this was nothing like the bitter growls of before. "Hotaru? You're alive?" Tears began to well in Black Lady's eyes.

"Yes, Usa - - Usagi," Saturn nodded. "Please don't do this. This isn't you. This isn't the girl I know. This is the hurt and anger talking."

"You're very lucky," Black Lady said to Sailor Moon, a tremor of emotion in her voice. "You've got everything I lost: Your parents, Hotaru - - probably Helios, too. Everything I lost."

Right then Sailor Moon felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for this girl.

"I hate you for that!" growled Black Lady.

And a wave of black energy radiated out from her in a circular pattern. It rippled across the street, causing buildings to explode upon contact. Both Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn were struck by the energy and thrown helplessly back. It was like being hit by the force from an explosion. Vesta and Juno started to bring their attacks to bear, but the shock wave was on them too fast. The four Asteroids were thrown back. Each one landed hard on the pavement. Vesta was first to her feet, spurring herself to move because she'd learned early on that to stay on the ground was to invite another attack.

Sailor Moon was trying to pull herself off the pavement. Saturn was down. They'd been closer to Black Lady and received more of the force. Juno and Ceres were awake, but still down, while Pallas was curled into a fetal ball. Vesta's first thought was to go to her aid, but survival instinct set in and she located Black Lady. The girl was just standing there, not pressing the attack.

"Go back to your time," Black Lady said sourly. "Enjoy your happy life. And be careful of people stabbing . . ."

Black Lady's attention swung to something behind Vesta. Vesta glanced back and saw Sailor Parallel Moon in the rear, staring at Black Lady like a deer in headlights.

"Finally crawled out of hiding?" snarled Black Lady. "Are you the one who brought them here? Did you run out of people here to hide behind?"

"You're the one who killed Helios!" screamed Parallel Moon, tears bursting down her face. "You're the one who killed Mama and Daddy!"

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Black Lady. "SHUT-YOUR-MOUTH!"

Levitating, Black Lady launched herself at Parallel Moon. Seeing the senshi begin to retreat without making a move to defend herself, Vesta started forward.

"Fauna Combination - - tiger condor!" she yelled. Vesta hoped to intercept Black Lady by turning into a winged tiger and cutting the distance between them. And she hoped it would be enough.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Sailor Moon called out.

She had the Moon Kaleidoscope out and pointed at Black Lady from behind her. Pink energy shot out and raced across the intersection at twice the speed Black Lady was traveling. When it hit her, Black Lady reared up, then tumbled to the pavement, landing on all fours. The pink tendrils of the attack swirled and caressed Black Lady, trying to sooth her anger and dispel the hurt she felt. Vesta pulled up, near enough to Black Lady to attack but allowing Sailor Moon's attack to do its work. Saturn crouched near Sailor Moon, eyes glued on Black Lady. Juno and Ceres were up and circling Black Lady, trying to bracket her.

Black Lady remained on the pavement, still on all fours. The pink tendrils dissipated and everyone waited to see if Sailor Moon had succeeded in conquering the girl's rage. Black Lady rolled back and sat on her knees, arms still bracing herself against the pavement. Sailor Moon, her kaleidoscope at the ready, began to approach.

"Usagi?" Sailor Moon inquired.

"Not nearly enough," came the hoarse reply. "All you managed to do was remind me of everything I've lost."

Black Lady's hand shot out and black energy leaped from her palm to Sailor Moon. Instantly the senshi sank to her knees, screaming in agony. The Moon Kaleidoscope clattered to the pavement before her. Unmoved by her screams, Black Lady continued to assault her with black energy. Vesta, still in her winged tiger form, lunged for the girl, fangs bared and claws out. But Black Lady brought her other hand up and nailed Vesta with a direct shot of the same black energy. Snarling in rage and pain, the tiger fell to earth and curled up, trying to protect itself from the crackling black energy.

Something was coming up on her left and Black Lady released her attack on Sailor Moon to meet it. But when she turned and saw it was Saturn, she pulled up.

"Hotaru, please," Black Lady said. "Don't make me fight you, too!"

"I'm sorry," Saturn offered, anguished. Then she drove the blade of her glaive into the pavement near Black Lady. "Asrael's Slumber!"

Like mist being drawn into a vent, Black Lady's black energy began to flow from her into the head of the glaive. Saturn braced herself, for already she was feeling the strain of leeching the energy from her foe. For her part, Black Lady recoiled. Her attack on Vesta ceased and she slumped forward, bracing herself with her arms on the pavement. More and more energy flowed into the glaive until the blade itself turned black as pitch. Saturn's arms were shaking as she tried to keep the glaive steady.

As it took on more and more energy, the glaive seemed to take on a life of its own. It bucked and shook in Saturn's hands. The blackness was inching up the handle now, growing closer and closer to Saturn's right hand. Doggedly she held on, but everyone who watched her could see she was reaching her limit. Would it be enough? Black Lady was down and she was clearly suffering, but there was little evidence that she was finished.

Finally the glaive blade flung itself back from the pavement like they were like-pole magnets. Saturn staggered back. Black Lady rose up, turning as if she were about to attack. Sailor Moon retrieved the Moon Kaleidoscope, preparing to hit her with another shot. But Black Lady hesitated for a moment. Saturn stood and watched her, the glaive quivering in her hands.

Then Black Lady faded from sight. Everyone looked around.

"Vesta?" Sailor Moon asked.

"I can't get her scent anymore," the tiger said, then morphed back into Sailor Vesta. "She's gone." Saturn sighed with relief and touched her glaive to the ground to dissipate the energy it held.

"Probably teleported away," Juno assumed. She walked up to them while Ceres broke off and checked out Pallas.

"She could have attacked me," Saturn said. "She had the chance. But she didn't take it."

"I guess there's a little sense left in her," Sailor Moon commented. "When we find her, maybe you're the one who should try to talk her down. She doesn't seem to want to listen to me."

Sailor Parallel Moon approached, but it was clear she intended to pass the group by. Vesta glanced at her.

"Thanks for the help," the senshi sneered.

Parallel Moon ignored her and continued on. Together the four senshi watched her walk over to the young boy, sitting in shock in the spot Vesta had left him. Gently Parallel Moon knelt down next to him. Her gloved hand reached out and began softly stroking the boy's forehead.

"Are both of your parents gone now?" she asked him, sympathy flowing from her. The boy just nodded. Parallel Moon encircled him with her arms and drew him close to her. "I'm so sorry. Do you have anyone? Anyone you can stay with? Aunts or uncles?"

"Uncle Mikado," the boy said. He was still teetering on the brink from the emotional crisis he was in, but being in Parallel Moon's arms seemed to help him hang on.

"I'll see you get to him," Parallel Moon promised. The boy squeezed in tighter against her and Parallel Moon held him. "You're safe now. Don't cry."

"But I'll never see mom and dad again," he sniffed. Parallel Moon laid her head across the top of his.

"I know," she whimpered and it was a whimper of pain shared. Sailor Moon stared at her for the longest time.

"She's just like Mom," Sailor Moon murmured. Saturn and Vesta heard it and glanced at her.

By now Ceres and Pallas had joined them. Pallas looked a little woozy.

"You going to be OK?" Vesta asked with unconcealed concern.

"Yes, Vesta," she replied in a subdued manner. "Pallas is getting better."

"What happened? Was it the shock wave?" Sailor Moon asked.

Pallas shook her head. "More," she said. "It was hearing the bad Princess's thoughts, too. They came at Pallas through the wave."

"Do you know what she's planning?" Juno asked. Pallas shook her head.

"She couldn't understand what the bad Princess was thinking," Pallas explained. "But she's so sad and she's so very mad at the same time." Pallas looked down, chagrined. "It hurt Pallas's head."

"Yeah," Sailor Moon said, touching Pallas on the shoulder. "I bet it was really rough." She looked down for a moment. "I really hate to ask you to do this, Pallas. Do you think you can track her by her thoughts? Or maybe by the waves of anger and hatred?"

"Why?" Vesta grunted.

"We have to find Black Lady and stop her," Sailor Moon responded firmly. "She's not going to stop on her own. She's not going to stop until either she's dead, or everything else is."

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Cain And Abel

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 7: "Cain And Abel"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>Sailor Moon and her senshi stood outside of the gate and watched. Sailor Parallel Moon was there with an older Japanese man. He was holding the young boy, orphaned in the battle with Black Lady, as he talked to Parallel Moon. They couldn't hear what was being said, but their impression was that she was trying to explain the situation and comfort both the man and his unexpected new charge. Sailor Moon didn't envy her the task.<p>

"All this over a guy?" Vesta marveled out loud.

"Vesta!" hissed Ceres.

"No, it is hard to believe," Sailor Moon mumbled. "I hate to think that I could be so fragile that losing Helios to another woman could send me off the deep end."

"Love's a powerful thing," Ceres offered. "And losing that love, being rejected by that love, well, it can mess you up."

"And we don't know what else may have contributed to that situation," Saturn added. "Maybe it wasn't just the heartbreak of losing Helios. Maybe it was losing Helios to her."

"Yeah, you heard her when she spotted Parallel Moon," Vesta nodded. "Those two do not like each other."

Turning away, the Asteroids checked on Pallas, who was still very quiet and withdrawn after her experience with Black Lady. Saturn, however, leaned in to her friend so only they could be heard.

"You don't seem to know what to make of Parallel Moon, do you?" Saturn asked. Sailor Moon's head snapped around and she stared at her friend, surprised by the statement. Then she turned back to look at Parallel Moon, as if chagrined by being laid bare.

"I don't," the Princess said. "Every time she looks at me, she's seeing her sister, the one before she - - gave in to Black Lady. But every time I look at her, I see some stranger who kind of looks like Mom. I don't know what to expect from her. And I don't know what she expects from me." She folded her arms over her chest. "Mom's practically adopted her."

"And this bothers you," Saturn suggested. Sailor Moon felt a wave of tears coming and forced them back.

"I guess I am that petty," she sighed helplessly.

"Or you've been an only child for eighteen years and now you may have to share your parents."

"It's stupid! I wouldn't feel this way if Mom got pregnant again!" The Asteroids glanced over at them, but said nothing.

"Well a new baby isn't competition for an eighteen year old," Saturn reasoned. "But a fifteen year old girl is different. You're not automatically better anymore. And a fifteen year old's emotional needs are closer to yours."

Sailor Moon glanced at Saturn. "When did you get to be so smart about that stuff? I remember when you were moaning about how you'd never catch on to being in the thirtieth century."

Saturn grinned self-consciously. "Studying with Mizuno-Sensei. You pick things up. Seriously, Sailor Moon, you should try to get to know Kousagi. You might like her."

Sailor Moon looked down. "If there's time. We have to stop - - Usagi - - first."

Parallel Moon approached. She seemed so disheartened by the situation that it was hard not to feel for her. Vesta, though, managed it just fine.

"Any luck finding her?" she asked Sailor Moon. "I don't want something like that to happen again." They all looked at Pallas.

"Pallas is sorry," the senshi shook her head. "Pallas can feel the bad princess's anger, but she can't tell from where. It's so strong, it feels like it's surrounding Pallas."

"Any ideas on where she might go to be by herself?" Juno asked, both of Parallel Moon and Sailor Moon herself.

"She always went to her room," Parallel Moon shrugged. Sailor Moon nodded from behind her. "That was her hideaway - - her sanctuary. Whenever she'd get into an argument with Mama or Daddy - - or. . ."

"You?" Juno asked. Parallel Moon's brow furrowed.

"I don't know what she expected," the girl said. "Sometimes we'd get along just fine. I respected her. I looked up to her. It wasn't like it was easy being her sister. Always being compared to her, always having to defer to her. It's not my fault she knew more. It's not my fault she experienced everything first. It's not my fault she became Sailor . . ."

Parallel Moon stopped, remembering Sailor Moon was behind her. She glanced timidly at Sailor Moon, expecting the senshi to snap at her at any moment. There was no response from Sailor Moon, though. She only looked at the girl like she wanted to sympathize with her, but at the same time couldn't help but feel an uneasy defensiveness toward her. It was an awkward moment.

"Well I doubt she's in her room," Sailor Moon said finally. "Maybe we need to get some altitude. If we can see more of the city, maybe one of us can spot something."

"One Pegasus coming up," Vesta stated. "Fauna Assimilation - Pegasus!" Parallel Moon marveled as the senshi changed into a great winged horse not unlike Helios in his animal form.

"You're going to separate from Helios?" Saturn asked with concern. "Isn't that a risk?"

"Can't be helped. We have to find Black," and Sailor Moon stopped herself, "We have to find Usagi."

Sailor Moon shimmered, then dissolved into Usa and Helios. The others noticed the pain in Parallel Moon's face upon seeing Helios again. As he changed into Pegasus, Parallel Moon turned away.

"Maybe I shouldn't go with you," Parallel Moon suggested.

"Why? You scared?" the Vesta-Pegasus challenged. Parallel Moon scowled.

"I don't think I'll be that much use," she replied bitterly. "I'm not very good in a fight. And Onee-Chan might be calmer without me around."

"As I recall, you laid Pop and those security guards out pretty well. What level are you at?" Usa asked curiously, without judgement.

"I have the Moon Princess Halation," Parallel Moon responded. "But it's not that strong. It's not as strong as yours - - as Onee-chan's was. And she's so much stronger now. It would be like spitting at her. I doubt it would help much."

"Look, if you want to stay behind, that's your choice," Usa told her. "But I think you could help and I'd like you to come along."

The second Princess looked down, overcome by Usa's gesture. After a few moments she seemed to fill with new resolve. Timidly she nodded her head.

"Great! Mount up!" Usa told the others as she hoisted herself onto the back of Pegasus. The others complied, but Parallel Moon hung back. Usa looked at her curiously.

"Um," Parallel Moon began, staring all the while at Pegasus with an anxious expression, "is it OK if I ride the other one?"

"Here, take my spot," Ceres offered, gesturing to a spot on Vesta behind Juno. "Vesta chafes anyway." Vesta snorted a reply as Ceres mounted with Saturn and Sailor Moon.

Into the sky above a city that was so much like Crystal Tokyo that it actually hurt to see chunks of it broken and in rubble, the squad of senshi flew. Only now were some of the citizens coming out of their shelters, while a clearly over matched Civilian Defense Patrol sought to aid victims and secure the city against attack.

"From their own Princess," Usa muttered. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and looked back. Saturn silently conveyed her support. To their right, Vesta flew a mirror image pattern, searching to the east as she flew north while Pegasus searched the west.

"Um, Parallel Moon," Juno ventured. "What about the elder Senshi? Are they doing anything about this?"

Parallel Moon looked out over the city, rather than at Juno. The sun struck her face and in that moment Juno flashed back to her memories of Queen Serenity when she was Sailor Moon.

"I don't know," she told Juno. "I know Aunt Rei is dead. She was so overcome with grief when Mama - - well, she committed suicide. Aunt Minako and Aunt Makoto tried to stop her. But she said she wouldn't live in a world without Mama."

A tear trickled down Parallel Moon's face. Vesta momentarily glanced back at her.

"Then they and Aunt Ami tried to stop Onee-Chan," she continued. "Tried to talk her into stopping, before she turned on me. Mama's death seemed to shock her so, and then Aunt Rei dying on top of that. I hoped," and she sighed. "But she just got angry again. They tried to hold her so I could escape."

Her lip trembled at the memory.

"That's when I decided what I had to do," Parallel Moon went on. "They couldn't stop her. If Mama and Daddy couldn't stop her, they couldn't. I went to the Door Of Time and ordered Diana to give me a time key. I went back in time, got a weapon," then she swallowed, "and traveled back . . . to stop it before it started." The girl snorted cynically. "But I took a wrong turn somewhere. Ended up in your time, not mine."

"So you think the elders are all dead?" Vesta asked. "Kino-Sensei? And the others?"

"Probably. I think they would have contacted us by now." Parallel Moon expelled a tired sigh. "Seeing how things are in your time, maybe I was aiming at the wrong target. Maybe I should have gone back and killed myself. None of this would have happened. Helios would be alive. Mama and Daddy . . ."

Her shoulders began to shudder. Juno put her hand on one as an act of sympathy.

"So what about the Asteroids in this time?" Vesta inquired. "Where are they?"

"There are no Asteroid Senshi," Parallel Moon mumbled. She was supremely embarrassed. "Mama wanted to bring you all in, as a way to help Onee-Chan become Sailor Moon. But - - I stopped it."

"Why?" Juno asked.

"You were the ones who tried to hurt Helios," she answered in a small voice, "back when you were with the Dead Moon Circus. I didn't want you in the same hemisphere as him. Mama said you all had changed, that you deserved another chance. But I wouldn't budge. I cried and I got angry - - and Mama gave in." Parallel Moon glanced over at Usa some distance across from them. "Mama always gave in. Onee-Chan said she wasn't hurt. She didn't like the idea any more than I did. But I bet she was. Oh, I was so selfish. I can see it now that I look back."

Juno felt a tug on her kerchief. She glanced back at Pallas.

"Pallas thinks she knows where the bad princess is," Pallas said, in a low voice as if she didn't want Parallel Moon to hear.

"Thought-cast it to Vesta," Juno told her. Then she waved to the others on Pegasus. Vesta glanced back and nodded, then banked off to the right. When Juno saw Pegasus follow them, she returned her focus straight ahead.

As they approached a section of the city near the outskirts of Crystal Tokyo, Juno noticed Parallel Moon begin to tense up. At the same time, black smoke could be seen rising up from a location just beyond a cluster of buildings.

"Oh no," they heard Parallel Moon gasp. "Hurry! Please hurry!"

Vesta barely had time to set down before Parallel Moon dismounted, half-rolling off of the senshi's back and stumbling to the ground. Everyone else stared in horror. What had once been a small rabbit sanctuary nestled outside of Crystal Tokyo was now engulfed in fire. Thick black smoke rolled off of the orange flames that leaped twenty feet into the air. Around the perimeter, fire control drones lay on the ground, sparking and inert. And the air was thick with the smell of charred wood, melted plastic and burning flesh. Parallel Moon stumbled toward it like she was about to leap into the fire herself.

"Aqua Initiation!" Juno called out.

All around the burning rabbit sanctuary, water conduits burst and water rocketed into the air. At Juno's command, the water spouts bent inward, dousing the entire sanctuary with liquid. The fire was out in under a minute, but the damage was already done. The senshi surveyed the lot as Parallel Moon sank to her knees before it. Every building was scorched and destroyed and the bodies of a dozen people and hundreds of rabbits littered the steaming lot.

"Why?" Pallas wailed as everyone stared. "Why kill all of the cute bunnies?"

"Because it was mine!" Parallel Moon cried. "I set it up! I helped tend it! She did it to strike at me!"

"Precisely." They all whirled and found Black Lady standing behind them. She looked no worse for wear from their last encounter. Noting Black Lady's focus was squarely on her sister, Usa took that opportunity to quietly merge with Helios and become Sailor Moon.

"WHY?" Parallel Moon wailed in anguish. "Wasn't Mama and Daddy bad enough? Those poor rabbits never did anything to ANYONE!"

"Why? Because your tears are so sweet," Black Lady sneered.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Sailor Moon shouted.

The pink tendrils from the Moon Kaleidoscope shot out, seeking Black Lady hungrily, anxious to encircle her in their healing caress. But when they got to her, the energy passed right through like she was a ghost. Sailor Moon and the others stared in amazement. Then Sailor Moon guessed that it was just an illusion cast by Black Lady.

But she guessed too late. Black energy struck her from above, crackling around her and lighting every nerve ending on fire. A howl of agony burst loose involuntarily from her mouth and Sailor Moon sank to her knees. Only a swing of Saturn's glaive disrupted the energy and freed the Princess from its grip. Sailor Moon shook on her knees, trying to suppress the waves of lingering anguish while Saturn stood guard over her and looked up. Black Lady hovered above them.

"Tough choice, isn't it, Hotaru?" Black Lady said. "She's the best friend you ever had. The only one in the universe who completely understands you, who accepts you for who you are. But then, so am I."

"That's why I'm giving you a chance to surrender," Saturn replied, her glaive up and pointed at Black Lady, "and I'm praying you take it. You need help."

"What I need," Black Lady emphasized, "is gone. There's no reason to go back now. Not while SHE'S still alive!"

"Killing her isn't going to solve anything!" Sailor Moon heaved out, still on her knees gathering her strength. "Killing anyone won't solve anything!"

"Queen Serenity, 2016," Black Lady retorted. "That was probably her most famous quote. I wonder if she'd feel that way if Uncle Shingo had sabotaged her life and stolen Pop from her."

"You're the one who killed Helios!" Parallel Moon bellowed. "All because he chose me!"

"BECAUSE YOU SEDUCED HIM!" Black Lady roared back. "Do you know he died defending her?" Tears began to sprout in Black Lady's eyes. "I didn't want to kill him. I loved him. I was aiming at her!"

Without warning, plant shoots sprung out of the ground beneath Black Lady. As they sprang toward the sky, they grew and thickened into thick, supple stalks. Black Lady noticed them and tried to move, but they were too fast and snapped around her. She was quickly cocooned in the greenery.

"Aqua Initiation!" Juno shouted, directing a water spout at Black Lady. The strength and velocity of the spout gave the water a strong impact and flailed the captured woman. "Pallas, see if you can put her to sleep!"

As Pallas jammed her eyes shut to concentrate her telepathy on inducing unconsciousness in Black Lady, Saturn helped Sailor Moon to her feet. Already Vesta had taken to the air and changed into a falcon in order to swiftly attack if Black Lady got free.

And an instant later Black Lady wasn't there. The water passed through nothing. The plants held on to air. Pallas reeled back as if struck. Vesta dived in with her falcon form, then changed back to human as she landed next to Pallas. Saturn and Sailor Moon swiftly surveyed the area.

"She's probably going to go after Parallel Moon," Sailor Moon said to her friend. "You better get over there and protect her with your shield."

"Come on, then," Saturn replied, clamping onto Sailor Moon's hand and jerking her toward Parallel Moon.

As they arrived, Black Lady materialized above them. With a gesture, she fired her black energy at the Asteroid Senshi. Vesta was able to avoid the blast by becoming a falcon again and flying into the sky. But the other three wailed in pain and fell incapacitated to the ground.

"STOP IT!" shrieked Parallel Moon. "Enough! No more! If killing me will satisfy you, then go ahead!" She dissolved into tears again. "You've already taken everything I have. There's no more point in going on. Just - - leave everyone else alone. The city - - the people - - everything. Please don't hurt anyone else."

"I could respect those words when Mom was saying them," Black Lady scowled. "But they just sound hollow and self-serving when they come out of your mouth."

"Usagi, enough!" Sailor Moon shouted. "This war can't go on! This isn't what Helios would have wanted for you! This isn't what Mom and Pop would have wanted for you either!"

"Then why did they pick her?" fumed Black Lady. "Why did they ALWAYS pick her?"

"They didn't always pick me!" snapped Parallel Moon. "You just always had to be first!"

Black Lady responded with a blast of black energy. Saturn quickly erected her Silence Wall and deflected it by a hair.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to kill her," Black Lady snickered. "I was just going to discipline her - - teach her right from wrong. Be an example for her. That's what Mom always told me to do. But I'm not going to kill her." Her gaze turned to bitter hatred. "I haven't taught her what suffering is yet."

"Because it's always about you," Parallel Moon shot back with equal bitterness.

"No, Honey, it's always been about you!" Black Lady yelled back. She followed it with another blast of black energy. Saturn struggled to deflect it. Sailor Moon raised the Moon Kaleidoscope.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Sailor Moon cried.

Pink tendrils once again sped toward Black Lady, attracted to her negative energy like moths to a flame. But when they got within range, Black Lady held up her hand. A shield of black energy erected and caught the tendrils against it. The tendrils squirmed and writhed against the shield, but they couldn't pass the barrier.

"Where the Hell is she getting all of this power?" Vesta muttered. Still in falcon form, Vesta dived at Black Lady and tried to rake the woman's face with her talons. But the talons seemed to glance off without doing damage. Vesta's keen falcon's vision noticed sparks of black energy at her feet as she flew off.

"Usagi, please stop this!" Saturn cried up to her. "Nobody wants to hurt you! And nobody wants you to destroy yourself any further by hurting other people!" She appealed up to Black Lady. "Usagi, I was your friend! Your best friend! You know I won't lie to you! Please stop this! Stop diminishing yourself!"

A subtle change came over Black Lady. The hatred died in her eyes as she focused on Saturn. Then the energy discharge stopped. She still held Sailor Moon's attack at bay, but her shield of black was flecked with tiny spots of pink.

"Yes," Black Lady said softly. "You've always been my friend - - above everyone else."

With that, she disappeared. Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn quickly looked around, trying to see where Black Lady would reappear. Then, without warning, Black Lady reappeared behind Saturn. Before anyone could act, Black Lady wrapped her arms around Saturn from behind. They both vanished, a sizzle of black energy the only thing marking where they had been, leaving a stunned Sailor Moon behind.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. The Void

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 8: "The Void"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

It was over in the blink of an eye, before she could even think to act. One moment Sailor Saturn stood before her. Then Black Lady suddenly appeared, wrapped her arms around Saturn, and the two of them vanished. Valiantly Sailor Moon fought the urge to scream, to panic. She couldn't give in to the emotions welling within her. Saturn needed her and the only thing that would help her was a cool head.

"Pallas, can you track her thoughts?" Sailor Moon turned and shouted. But Sailor Pallas was still on the pavement, felled by Black Lady's dark energy as Juno and Ceres had been. Vesta was coming in for a landing near Pallas, changing from her falcon form as she did. There was no sense calling on her. The possibility that Vesta could track Black Lady in an animal form was remote.

"Maiden?" she felt Helios think. His thoughts were dripping with concern.

"I'm trying, Helios!" Sailor Moon thought back. "But I don't know what to do! You can't track her, can you?"

"Alas not, Maiden. Perhaps when she sleeps."

"Saturn may not have time for that," Sailor Moon thought frantically.

"You do not think she is in grave peril, do you? Black Lady is a shade of you, and I cannot conceive of you bringing harm to Sailor Saturn."

"In the state Usagi's in, I'm not putting anything past her," Sailor Moon responded. "I would never hurt Hotaru, but then I wouldn't kill Mom or Pop or you, either. She has."

Right then, Sailor Moon's eyes locked on Sailor Parallel Moon. The senshi was sitting on the remains of a decorative fence and seemed engulfed by her misery. It didn't keep Sailor Moon from running up to her.

"You don't have any clue where she might have gone with Saturn, do you?" Sailor Moon almost demanded.

Parallel Moon shook her head. "I don't even know Onee-Chan anymore. She's so far gone from everything I remember about her." The senshi put her head in her hands. "Why is this happening?"

Desperately Sailor Moon turned and looked up at the sky, as if she could somehow see Black Lady and Saturn. Images flooded into her mind, memories of staring up at her mother in her transparent coffin, her Aunts standing guard around her for hours and days on end, her father a wraith with no substance. That memory had always been her definition of utter helplessness and she was feeling that sensation now. And oh how she despised feeling that way. With no other option available to her, Sailor Moon turned away from her sister from a different time and joined Vesta in trying to revive the other Asteroids.

-

Sailor Saturn finished surveying every inch of the space she was enclosed in. It was difficult for her to comprehend. The space looked like a simple room, cube shaped and about eight feet by eight with no doors or windows. But there was a shimmering hint of transparency to the walls and floor and ceiling. And beyond those walls was - - nothing. She reached out and touched the wall with her gloved hand. There was no sense of solidness to the walls. But the floor supported her. And when she tried to pass her hand through the wall, there was no give.

A sense of vulnerability swept over the slight senshi. Her glaive was gone and with it roughly half of her ability to defend herself. She could still project her Silence Wall. She still had her rudimentary telekinesis, but there was nothing in this strange place to manipulate. And the thought of using it brought back uncomfortable memories of a mountainside in Colombia. She could still project her mind bolt, but as always it wouldn't come when she tried to summon it. And the thought of using it against Black Lady repelled her.

Because, for all of her anger and all of her violence, Black Lady still wore Usa's face.

"Do you want to sit down?"

Saturn turned and found Black Lady in the room. She eyed the woman warily, but there was none of the bitterness and vitriol in this creature's face that had been there before.

"What is this place?" Saturn asked.

"Just a little corner of the temporal limbo I carved out," Black Lady responded. "A little spot between time."

"Like where the Door Of Time exists?"

"Yeah. Only it's separate from that space. I wouldn't want Diana walking in unexpectedly." Her face clouded over. "I wouldn't want to have to hurt her."

"How do you do all of this?" Saturn asked. "I thought your crystal didn't work if you gave in to anger and hatred."

"Yeah, funny thing," Black Lady muttered. There seemed to be a hint of gloating in her tone. "That just worked for Mom."

"I don't understand."

"The crystal's power amplifies what I think and makes it reality," Black Lady explained. "If I want something badly enough and have the purity of thought to focus the crystal's energy, it happens. Well that works both ways. Love is a pure emotion, but so is hatred. Mom could never generate power when she was angry because her anger was always unfocused and half-hearted. All she did was lose focus and diminish her power." Black Lady's jaw tightened. "But I had something to really hate. Something beyond Wise Man's stories and half-truths." The black energy returned and seemed to crackle around her.

"Kousagi?"

Black Lady assumed a bitter scowl. "Yes, my 'darling' sister. The one who took everything I had because she thought it was her right to do so. Why couldn't I have been an only child?"

"Usagi," Saturn started to say.

"Oh, I know. It's not 'all' her fault," Black Lady pressed on. "Mom always babied her, indulged her. Pop couldn't quite manage to say 'no' to her as much as he could me. And she has this way about her, that keeps people from standing up to her. It's like how it was always so hard for people to say 'no' to Mom. Kousagi had it, too - - and I never did. They couldn't help themselves." Her lower lip trembled slightly. "And Helios couldn't help falling for her, too."

"I don't think she was trying to hurt you, Usagi," offered Saturn.

"Doesn't that just make it worse?" Black Lady replied, her eyes flaring. "It's one thing to actively seek to hurt someone else. But to do it because you're so wrapped up in yourself that you can't even see you're doing it, or if you do finally notice, you're too selfish to stop?" She threw up her hands and turned away. "I'm sorry, Hotaru. I don't mean to use that tone with you." The black energy was gone again. Usagi seemed almost frightened of Saturn's reaction.

"I understand," Saturn said.

"Yeah, you do," Black Lady murmured. Her back was still to Saturn, but she could hear the emotion in Black Lady's voice. "You don't know how much I've missed - - just talking to you."

"We can talk now if you want."

"Maybe I should just stay here," Black Lady continued. "Stay here where nobody can hurt me. Just stay here forever," and she peeked back at Saturn, "with my BFF."

The thought didn't appeal to Saturn and it was evident.

"No. That wouldn't be fair to you," Black Lady mumbled, turning away. Then her shoulders straightened. The black aura returned to her. "But then it's not a fair world, is it? And maybe it won't be so bad if there isn't a world to return to."

Black Lady started for one of the walls. Saturn lunged forward to try to stop her, but she passed through the wall leaving Saturn trapped and alone.  
>-<p>

"How are they?" Sailor Moon asked.

She stood over Vesta as the senshi doted over Sailor Pallas. Juno and Ceres were sitting up, looking very woozy. Pallas had her head in Vesta's lap. The girl was conscious, but moaning softly.

"'They'," Ceres muttered sourly, "feel like they've been kissing active power crystals."

"I'm sorry if I'm pushing," Sailor Moon said, her strained patience in her tone. "I know what getting hit with that energy feels like, so I know how much you're all hurting. But I don't know how much time we've got left to find Saturn and stop Usagi, so we can't afford to sit around and recover."

"Look, Pallas can't get up!" barked Vesta. "That bolt took too much out of her! I want to find Saturn, too, but it's going to have to wait until Pallas can at least get up on her own!"

As she spoke, Vesta saw Sailor Moon materialize the Moon Kaleidoscope. As she finished, she saw Sailor Moon point it at them.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" Sailor Moon cried.

A waft of pink energy leaped from the end of the Kaleidoscope and seemed to evaporate into twinkling particles upon impact with the air. The particles lazily fell from the air and landed on the four Asteroids. Sailor Parallel Moon approached and saw first Ceres and Juno, and then Pallas begin to breath easier. Their pain lessened and their sense of renewal began to swell inside of them. Even Vesta seemed to quiet, the anxiety that had been controlling her melting away. Finally Pallas was able to pull herself to a sitting position next to Vesta, while Juno and Ceres regained their feet.

"Thank you, Princess," Pallas said gratefully. "Pallas is much better now."

"It's not as good as Saturn could have done," Sailor Moon shrugged. "But it's the best I could do."

"It's enough," Ceres grinned. "Any ideas on how to find Saturn?"

"No," Sailor Moon replied. But everyone could see that familiar look on her face and knew that an inspiration was percolating. "But maybe we won't have to rescue her if she was never captured in the first place." And off she sprinted, heading in the general direction of the ruins of the Crystal Palace.

"That don't make any sense," Vesta said, her confusion unconcealed.

"As long as it does to her, that's all that matters," Juno proclaimed, starting off after her princess. "Let's go."  
>-<p>

Mere moments after she had taken Sailor Saturn from this reality, Black Lady reappeared in the time line. It was in a retail section of Crystal Tokyo. The citizens were milling about in confusion, aware of what had happened at the palace, but unsure of what to do. The sight of the once beloved princess in her now-menacing clothes and demeanor brought them all to a halt. Black Lady ignored them at first. But a young child walked up to her and Black Lady finally had to notice. She looked down disdainfully at the little girl.

"Why?" was all the young girl asked. Black Lady scowled.

"Go home to your mother," the rogue princess answered. Instead the child seemed to cower. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

A pulse of black energy flared out from her and radiated away from Black Lady in a circular pattern. The girl and everyone in the retain district were violently swept away. The energy broke out store fronts, flattened street lamps and caused observation drones to short out. Satisfied, Black Lady raised her arms into the air. Black energy coalesced around her hands, flared, and then died.

"I probably could destroy the planet just by willing it," Black Lady muttered to no one in particular. "But the energy expenditure would probably kill me." She frowned. "Would that be so bad? It would be over. I'd stop hurting."

She shook her head.

"No, I have to live for Hotaru's sake. She's the only thing I have left," Black Lady responded. "But as long as there's an Earth to escape to, she'll try to escape. I have to destroy this world. And then hers. Hell, I'll destroy them all if I have to!"

The hovering renegade princess thought for a few moments. Then an idea galvanized her into action. Her hands extended, her right reaching into the sky while her left dived down along her thigh. Black energy formed and elongated between her extended hands. The energy crackled as it coursed from one hand to the other. As it sparked and spat, the energy began to coalesce into a rod. The rod slowly solidified into a gleaming black metal with thin veins of violet running through it, its length nearly six feet. When the rod fully formed, Black Lady grasped it with her two hands.

Raising it above her head, Black Lady brought it down and plunged the rod into the pavement. She hovered over it, more black energy passing from her hands and solidifying into the rod. As its height reached into the sky, unseen the rod's depth bore into the rock below. Undaunted by the drain on her power she felt, Black Lady continued to extend the rod of dark energy until it reached two miles beneath the surface and five hundred feet into the air. Only then did she stop and wearily descend to the pavement. With an unsettling gaze of pride, Black Lady looked over her work.

"Now the rod will draw energy from the sun and the air and the Earth itself," she mumbled admiringly, "and project it into the planet's core until it builds up a critical mass and explodes, tearing this planet to pieces." She grinned.

Then the renegade princess faded from sight.  
>-<p>

They arrived at the abandoned front gate of the palace. Vesta had transformed into a horse to allow Pallas to ride and recover her strength. Once there, she changed back into human form. Sailor Moon was already through the gate and up the steps, as the lifts were disabled. Everyone piled in after her.

"What's the plan?" Juno called up after her.

"I think she's headed for the temporal nexus," Parallel Moon said.

"We cutting and running?" Vesta demanded.

When they reached the third floor, Sailor Moon was standing there waiting for them. As usual, the temporal nexus was invisible to all of them except for Sailor Moon and apparently Sailor Parallel Moon. To the rest, it seemed to be just a normal corridor like all the others.

"What are you planning?" Juno asked again.

"Parallel Moon had the right idea when she decided to go back into time and stop Black Lady from happening," Sailor Moon explained. "She just didn't think it through and develop a plan that could be properly executed." She glanced at her pseudo-sister. "Somehow I don't think you had your heart in it."

"You're going to go back in time and prevent this time's Usagi from becoming Black Lady?" Juno asked.

"Can you do that?" Parallel Moon marveled. "I thought maybe fate kept me from doing it."

"Sure. I've done it before," Sailor Moon answered. "I prevented Pluto from dying in the twentieth century. I prevented Hotaru from dying. I even went back and saved Mom from being assassinated by Viluy. You just have to pick the right moment and have a plan."

"But won't that change the future?" Juno asked. Sailor Moon looked at her.

"In this future, Mom's dead. Pop's dead. Helios is dead. The elders are probably dead. And I'm an out-of-control murderer. How much worse could I make it?"

Extending her hand, Sailor Moon clasped Juno's. In turn, the Asteroids and Parallel Moon clasped hands and Sailor Moon led them through the nexus into the timeless pocket where the Door Of Time existed. Sailor Moon immediately began walking through the misty nothing of the limbo. Since their leader seemed to know where she was going, the others fell in behind her.

"How do you plan to prevent Onee-Chan from turning into Black Lady?" Parallel Moon ventured.

"Well, the point where she went off the deep end is probably when she accidentally killed Helios," Sailor Moon explained. "We just have to stop that from happening and then everybody has room to step back from the ledge."

"Helios . . . alive?" Parallel Moon whispered.

"Uh huh," nodded Sailor Moon.

"But," Parallel Moon continued, her brow furrowing, "what if - - he chooses her? Out of guilt or pity or . . .?"

"Well which would you rather have?" Ceres asked her bluntly. "Helios dead, or alive in the arms of another woman? Were you in love with him, or were you in love with the fact that he was in love with you?"

Stung by the question, Parallel Moon fell silent.

As they approached the Door Of Time, Sailor Moon began looking for Pluto's silhouette in the mists. If necessary, she would attempt time travel on her own. She knew where the Time Keys were kept, learning that secret on one of her many childhood explorations of the misty realm. But she would much prefer to do it with Pluto's guidance. Her expertise would make the plan that much more likely to succeed.

But a different silhouette approached them from the mists. It was far smaller than anyone save Parallel Moon expected.

"My lady!" Diana gasped with fragile hope. "Is it really you? Have you come to your senses at last?"

The words made another tear in Sailor Moon's heart.

"I'm not who you think, Diana," she explained. "I'm from a different time line."

"Oh," the gray cat said, crestfallen. "Yes, I see that now." But her face lit up again when she spotted Parallel Moon. "Chibi-Sama! Then you reconsidered your plan?"

"Not soon enough," Parallel Moon replied, embarrassed. "Do you know if Tsukuyomi is all right?"

"Resting comfortably, Chibi-Sama," Diana replied.

"Who's Tsukuyomi?" Juno asked.

"Her cat advisor," Diana explained. She then noticed that Sailor Moon had noticed the distance Parallel Moon was keeping between her and Diana. "It's nothing personal, My Lady. Chibi-Sama is, unfortunately, allergic to cats."

"Oh," Sailor Moon nodded. "Diana, can you help us? We need to go back in time and stop this mess."

Suddenly Sailor Pallas turned. Everyone else's eyes followed her and saw a figure emerge from the mists. Diana gasped in surprise upon seeing Sailor Pluto.

"Pluto-San?" the cat exclaimed. "How are you here?"

"The mixing of the time streams has caused many things which should not have become known to be discovered," Pluto replied. Though not intended as a rebuke, Parallel Moon glanced down just the same. Pluto turned to Sailor Moon. "I know what you plan. I cannot permit you to continue."

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. The Ticking Clock

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 9: "Ticking Clock"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>"I cannot permit you to continue."<p>

The sentence hung in the air like a bomb blast. Nobody spoke for a moment and an awkward silence filled the temporal void.

"You don't understand," Ceres spoke up. "This time's Princess Usagi has Sailor Saturn. And she's been destroying Crystal Tokyo, rampaging through the streets. We have to stop her!"

"I am aware of all you tell me," Pluto responded with her typical world-weary calm. "But I cannot allow you to tamper with what has been."

"So we just let Black Lady kill Saturn?" Vesta demanded. Pluto would not respond.

"Sailor Pluto, we have a chance to go back and undo everything Onee-Chan has done!" Parallel Moon said, stepping forward. "Save Helios. Save Mama and Daddy. Save everyone Onee-Chan has hurt. Even save Onee-Chan! You have to let us do it! Please, you must!"

"What you propose," Pluto would only say, "must not occur in this time."

Parallel Moon's face screwed up in anguish. Tears began to well in her eyes again.

"Don't you understand? We can save them! We can save the woman you dedicated yourself to defend!"

"I am not unsympathetic to your desires, Chibi-Sama," Pluto told her. "But I cannot permit it."

"WHY?" Parallel Moon bellowed.

"For reasons," Pluto responded, "you cannot yet know."

"You're just like you always were!" ranted Parallel Moon. "I never understood how Onee-Chan could be friends with you! You're so utterly cold and unfeeling! You stand there and let people die when you have to power to save them! You're . . .!"

"Enough," Sailor Moon said, her tone low but commanding respect, and her hand held up for emphasis. "Let's go."

"But what about Miss Saturn-Ma'am?" wailed Pallas.

"We'll have to find another way," Sailor Moon told her. She was struggling to remain calm. "If Pluto says we can't do it this way - - well, she has a good reason to do that."

"But we can stop it!" howled Parallel Moon. "We can save everybody!"

"Not this way," Sailor Moon replied tersely.

"Why? Because SHE said so?"

"YES!" snapped Sailor Moon. "Because SHE said so! You think I don't have anything at stake here? But you don't see me crying and throwing accusations just because I didn't get my way!"

"My Lady," Pluto interjected, catching Sailor Moon's attention instantly. "The task at hand is quite a bit more important than defending my reputation."

Sailor Moon seemed shamed suddenly by the display. Nodding, she turned and headed back for the temporal nexus. Reluctantly the other senshi fell in behind her. Parallel Moon hesitated so she could give Pluto a last, accusatory stare, then hurried to catch up with the others.

"Frankly this is all a bit beyond me, Pluto-San," Diana spoke up. "The fact that you're even here after so long, and what possible harm this Princess Usagi's plan could do escapes me."

When she got no response, Diana glanced at where Sailor Pluto had been. But the senshi was no longer there.

* * *

><p>Once they were back in the regular flow of time, Sailor Moon immediately headed for a portion of the palace none of the other senshi recognized. Sailor Parallel Moon, however, was all too familiar with the destination.<p>

"You're going to Daddy's computer room, aren't you?" Parallel Moon asked.

"Yep," Sailor Moon nodded, her pace consistent and determined. "If Usagi is still in Crystal Tokyo, Pop's computers and spy-eyes will find her."

"Look," Parallel Moon began, "I'm sorry for letting my desperation get the better of me."

"Yeah," Sailor Moon scowled. "You think with your heart. I think I know where you get it from."

"I just," Parallel Moon stammered. "I don't want to fight with you. Not you, too."

The group came to a door. It didn't open upon sensor recognition of a visitor. Instead Sailor Moon had to tap in a pass code that only she and Serenity - - and in this reality, Kousagi - - knew. The door hissed open and they stepped inside.

"Is it my imagination," Juno marveled, "or is this computer even bigger than the last time I was here?"

The computer system filled the entire room. A six foot high cabinet of storage crystals was in the center of the room. Undaunted, Sailor Moon walked over to the main input terminal and sat down as if it were the work station in her room.

"Bet you wish you had one of these," joked Vesta.

"I don't know," Sailor Moon replied as she pulled up monitor pictures from observation drones all over the city. "It does come in handy. But it would be hell to maintain. I'll stick to my PDA."

Her fingers danced over the crystal studs of the input keyboard. Different images of Crystal Tokyo winked off and on above them on the six foot monitor. There was as yet no sign of Black Lady, but one thing was consistent all over the city: The population was scared, and with the Royal Family fractured, rudderless.

"You're as good as Daddy on that thing," Parallel Moon exclaimed. "I couldn't operate that to save my life."

"We all have our own strengths," Sailor Moon offered her sister who wasn't really her sister. "Helios must have seen something in you if he fell in love with you."

To the surprise of Juno and Ceres, Parallel Moon just looked down.

"Princess," Pallas spoke up. "Pallas is hearing bad thoughts again."

"Can you tell from where?" Sailor Moon asked while keeping her attention focused on the monitor before her and the rapidly changing images coming from the security drones.

"She thinks it's that way," and Pallas gestured roughly northwest. "But she doesn't know exactly."

"Narrowing search to the northwest," Sailor Moon replied, her fingers dancing over the studs again.

"There!" pointed Vesta.

One of the drone transmissions had a long shot of Black Lady impaling the Earth with her black energy rod.

"Can you get a closer look?" Parallel Moon asked.

"None of the other drones in the area are on-line," Sailor Moon replied.

"What's she doing?" inquired Juno.

"I doubt she's building a monument to herself," Ceres quipped.

Sailor Moon paused just long enough to get the coordinates of the transmission, then bolted out of her chair. Everyone hurried after her.

"To the air car bay!" Sailor Moon ordered. "We're going to try to take her down!"

"I'll fly ahead!" Vesta exclaimed. "Fauna Assimilation - Eagle!"

"Don't engage her unless you don't have a choice!" Sailor Moon told her.

"No promises!" Vesta retorted. She perched on a windowsill long enough to hit the window open sensor with her wing, then launched into the air.

* * *

><p>Saturn sat in the corner of the timeless space she was imprisoned in and wondered what was happening. She had long since given up trying to penetrate the space. Without her glaive, she didn't have the power to penetrate the space. And she had no way of contacting Usa or the others to tell them where she was, if she could even find out exactly where she was.<p>

If Usa and the others were still alive.

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Saturn began concentrating, trying to broadcast a mental message in hopes someone would sense it. After all, Pallas was a telepath. And she herself had managed to sense Michiru Kaioh's mind over vast distances of space once. And maybe Queen Serenity might sense her, because Queen Serenity could do anything. Queen Serenity once brought her back from the brink of death itself. If anyone could do it, Queen Serenity could.

After a while, though, Saturn began to feel a presence in the space in addition to her own. She looked up and found Black Lady standing near her, silently watching.

"How long have you been watching me?" Saturn asked, tense and uncomfortable around what had once been her best friend, of a sort.

"Don't be afraid of me, Hotaru," Black Lady said. "You're not like the others. I don't have any reason to kill you."

"You didn't have any reason to kill them, either," Saturn answered in a soft voice.

"So I just do like you?" Black Lady asked, her aura crackling. "I just take it? Smother the pain under my breast because I'm deathly afraid to offend someone? How has that always worked out for you, Hotaru?"

"I have friends," she answered. "I have two guardians who love me - - despite everything I've done. I have someone who loves me, for who I am, even though there are smarter and prettier girls all around him."

"You do?" Black Lady asked, her aura dimming. There seemed to be a sliver of happiness in her tone. "What's he like?"

Saturn looked at Black Lady, who was now kneeling next to her. There seemed to be flashes of the old Usa in her face.

"He's kind," Saturn replied timidly. "And he's sweet and considerate. He wants to be a crystalline engineer. I have so much fun when I'm around him. It's like I'm actually someone when I'm with him."

Realizing she wasn't talking to the Usagi that she reflexively shared intimate truths with, Saturn glanced over again. But Black Lady gave her a gentle smile, like it was the first good news the girl had gotten in recent memory.

"Yeah," Black Lady sighed. "I know what that was like - - once." Her features clouded over.

"Usagi," Saturn said, reaching out for the girl's hand. "I'm sorry for everything you've gone through."

But Black Lady withdrew her hand before Saturn could grasp it.

"But you've got to stop this," Saturn pleaded. "You're only making things worse."

"I killed Helios," Black Lady replied hoarsely. "How much worse can it get?"

She got up and paced to the far side of the space. Saturn got to her feet, wondering what was going through her friend's doppleganger's mind, what torturous thoughts were keeping her from seeing right.

"It's not too late to stop," Saturn told her. "All you're doing now is punishing everyone else for your misery. You're better than that."

"Maybe your Usagi is," Black Lady said. "I've done too much - - gone too far."

"Well 'my' Usagi would realize that it's never too late to stop hurting people," Saturn maintained. Black Lady looked at her, but Saturn wouldn't back down. "She might get hurt and angry and lash out, but she'd figure out that hurting other people doesn't make it better." She took a tentative step toward Black Lady. "You're right, you have gone too far. But you haven't gone too far to stop. You haven't gone too far to try to make amends. And if you stop now, if you go back to being the person that everybody loved and respected, it's that much less you have to make up for."

"Make amends," Black Lady mumbled, looking away.

"Yes. I know that's what you're thinking," Saturn told her. "You're thinking that there's no point in stopping now because you can't possibly make amends. But you can, if you start now. It won't be easy, and maybe there's no way you can ever get back what was taken from you - - and what you threw away. But what do you have now? What does Black Lady really have now?"

"I've got you," Black Lady answered. Then she turned timidly to Saturn. "Don't I?"

"Not if you keep this up," Saturn told her. "I don't want to hate you. Not you. But you'll end up making me hate you if this continues."

"You don't understand, Hotaru," Usagi replied, pleading for acceptance. "The dark side of the crystal is so easy to use. It's like it was fun to feel the black power surge through me. It was a thrill - - a high almost. It made me stop hurting. It's only afterwards, when I realize what I've done, that I want to stop. But the power feels so good. It makes me feel like . . ."

"Usagi," Saturn interrupted, "it's a crutch. It's a false euphoria. It's not making you feel better. It's turning you into a monster. I can still be your friend even when you make stupid mistakes, because you're still you. But this isn't you. It's not something I can respect."

Black Lady turned away. Saturn could see she was upset. She'd spoken the truth to Black Lady, hoping cold reality would get her to see what she had become. And hoping that the prospect of losing literally the last friend she had might shock her into stopping. But this Usagi was so unpredictable. Would it work?

Suddenly she turned and faced Saturn. Saturn tensed, wondering if the girl was about to attack. Black energy began to crackle around Black Lady's hands. Saturn just stood and stared. She couldn't believe Usagi was ready to use deadly force against her, was she? Not Usagi.

Black Lady's arms came up. Her hands pointed at Sailor Saturn. The black energy discharged into Saturn. And she faded into nothing.

* * *

><p>Sailor Moon rocketed out of the crystal palace hangar, her air car careening wildly into the sky. The princess flew with all of the reckless abandon that she had ruefully become noted for among her team. It was a new experience, though, for Sailor Parallel Moon.<p>

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" Parallel Moon screeched as the craft lurched into an air corridor.

"Business as usual," Juno told her. Her hand shot out and punched the emergency beacon on the console, which Sailor Moon had once again forgotten. Not that there was much traffic to avoid. Events had thinned air car traffic over the city considerably. "Is your sister here a better pilot?"

"We never flew together," Parallel Moon conceded.

"Vesta?" Sailor Moon said over her senshi communicator while she guided the craft northwest. "Do you have visual yet?"

"Coming up on it now," Vesta reported over the communicator. "I see the rod, but there's no sign of Black Lady."

"Maybe you should give the area a sweep just to be sure before you land," Sailor Moon told her. "And watch your back. Usagi can teleport with this black energy of hers."

"On it," Vesta responded.

"So how long has this feud between you and your sister been going on?" Ceres asked Parallel Moon.

Parallel Moon remained silent. She wouldn't look at Ceres.

"Did it start when you stole your sister's boyfriend?" Ceres inquired. Parallel Moon's head jerked around to stare at her.

"I didn't steal him! Helios loved me!" snapped Parallel Moon.

"But did he love your sister first?" Ceres asked.

Parallel Moon seemed to shrink into herself. She didn't respond at first, but Ceres couldn't help but notice the rise in her anxiety.

"She was ignoring him," Parallel Moon said to no one in particular. "She was so - - obsessed with being Sailor Moon, with living up to Mama's reputation and history. Helios said he understood, but he was so lonely. I couldn't stand seeing him that way." The back of her hand brushed at her eye.

"So you tried to comfort him," Ceres surmised.

"Yes. That was all."

"And it got out of hand."

Parallel Moon looked like she was on the verge of tears. "He was so sweet and vulnerable. And he was so beautiful. I would have dreams about him, and I'd be so embarrassed to look at him the next day, because I knew he knew what I'd dreamed about. But he told me that it was all right. He was honored. He was touched that somebody cared about him that way." She shook her head. "And from then on, I couldn't help but love him."

Everyone stared at her except Sailor Moon, who was piloting the craft. And Sailor Moon could still hear her.

"It wasn't fair!" Parallel Moon exclaimed. "She didn't want him. She was ignoring him! All she cared about was being Sailor Moon! I loved him! Why should I have to do without him just because she was older?" She glanced around at everybody. "You all think I'm selfish."

"It's OK to be selfish sometimes," Ceres shrugged. "But only if you've considered first if you being selfish is going to hurt anyone else. I would think the Queen pointed that out to you."

Parallel Moon just burned in silence.

"Princess," Vesta's voice came over the communicator. "Looks like Black Lady's gone again. I'm going to fly in and get a close look at this rod."

"Be careful," Sailor Moon warned her.

With that, the sound of a massive energy discharge blasted over the communicator connection. It instantly grabbed everybody's attention.

"Vesta?" Sailor Moon exclaimed anxiously over the communicator. No response came. "VESTA?"

"Princess, Vesta is hurt!" cried Sailor Pallas.

Uttering an expletive under her breath, Sailor Moon gunned the air car forward. Pallas was out of her seat and up by the control panel, staring out of the forward view hatch. A sharp bank to avoid a structure sent her tumbling into the left bulkhead. By now everyone could see the rod buried in the ground and extending two hundred feet into the air at a thirty degree angle. Black energy crackled from every exposed inch of the rod. With a violent turn that nearly sent the craft spinning onto its top, Sailor Moon brought the air car around and touched down sharp and hard. Juno and Ceres were already at the hatch and popped it the moment the craft touched down.

Exiting the craft, Juno and Ceres spotted Vesta laying in a heap several yards away from the rod. Juno sprinted over and knelt down to check her. Ceres joined her moments later and Pallas moments after that.

"How is she, Juno?" Pallas asked fearfully. "Pallas can't hear any thoughts from her!"

"She's breathing," Juno reported. "But it's really ragged."

"What a time for Saturn not to be here!" Ceres exclaimed. "We need to fly her to a medical facility!"

"Before we move her," Sailor Moon said, arriving with Sailor Parallel Moon, "let me try to strengthen her a little." The Moon Kaleidoscope appeared in her hand. "Moon Gorgeous Meditation!"

Pink energy blanketed Sailor Vesta as the rest of the senshi watched and hoped. And Vesta's breathing began to ease. Her body relaxed, demonstrating that the pain that had gripped her was easing. Parallel Moon looked at Sailor Moon with admiration and just a hint of envy.

"Princess, Pallas can hear Vesta's thoughts now! You did it!" squealed Pallas. The senshi sank to her knees next to Vesta and began caressing the side of her face.

"She was too stubborn to die anyway," sighed Ceres.

"What was it, Princess?" Juno asked. "The black energy?"

"Well I'm not a medical student like Saturn," Sailor Moon replied, "but that would be my guess. It probably sent her into deep shock. Let's everybody take this as a warning: Don't touch that thing."

"Got that right," wheezed Vesta. With the help of Pallas, she sat up weakly. "Good thing I changed before I touched it. I'm not sure my bird form would have survived."

"So it was the rod that hurt you? You weren't attacked by Usagi?" Sailor Moon questioned.

"No, there was no sign of her," Vesta said wearily.

Sailor Moon turned away, but she couldn't hide her frustration from the others. Without Black Lady, there was no way to find out what had happened to Sailor Saturn. As she pondered what to do next, Sailor Parallel Moon cautiously approached the rod.

"What do you suppose it does?" she asked no one in particular.

"Let's find out," Sailor Moon said. It wasn't a priority for her, but it was something to do until she could find something to lead her to Saturn. Producing her PDA, Sailor Moon linked up with Endymion's computer system. Seconds later an observation drone approached from a neighboring sector. Using the drone's on-board sensors, Sailor Moon began scanning the rod. As data came in, she instructed the computer to correlate with other environmental sensors and with the vast database Endymion maintained.

Out of the blue, the computer detected something that registered on Sailor Moon's face as intense shock and horror.

"What?" Juno asked.

"That rod is gathering energy from the surrounding environment," Sailor Moon explained in a low, haunted voice, "and projecting it into the Earth's core like a microwave. It's slowly cooking the magma at the core."

"What will that do?" Ceres asked.

"At first, it will cause volcanic eruptions and tectonic shifts," Sailor Moon said.

"All over the planet? Millions could die!" Juno exclaimed.

"And if the energy output is left unchecked long enough, the heat energy at the core could build up to a point where it just rips the whole planet apart," Sailor Moon added.

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. Death Wish

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 10: "Death Wish"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>The gigantic rod composed of black energy towered over the six senshi. They all stared up at it in amazement and horror, knowing that it was drawing energy from its surrounding environment and converting that energy into a microwave that was increasing the heat energy of the magma core of the planet. Left unchecked, the result would be terrible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions all over the planet, and ultimately the rending of the very planet itself.<p>

"Well is there a way to stop it?" gasped Sailor Ceres. Everybody looked to Sailor Moon. She was the smartest among them. And she was the unquestioned leader. But Sailor Moon didn't answer. She just stared at the crackling black rod. The thought began to pass among the others, that the young princess may have encountered a problem she wasn't equipped to solve.

Then, resolutely, Sailor Moon ripped the tiara from her head. There was a look of almost angry determination on her face.

"Moon Tiara Action!" she cried and flung the energy disk converted from her tiara at the giant rod. The disk flew straight and true, but impacted with the rod and glanced off. Holding up her hand, Sailor Moon summoned the tiara back to her.

"It didn't work!" Parallel Moon exclaimed.

"It was a long shot," Sailor Moon replied, seemingly undaunted. "I was hoping to disrupt the rod or whatever mechanism is inside it that broadcasts the microwaves." She glanced over to Sailor Pallas. "Pallas, do you think you can lift that thing out of the ground?"

For a moment, Pallas looked like she was going to be sick. Then she took a breath.

"Pallas will try," she said. Clearly the black energy was having some sort of negative effect on her psychologically.

"You can do it," Vesta told her. Pallas nodded and advanced on the rod. She summoned all of her resolve.

"Beautiful Incantation!" she yelled, holding up her hands to help her manipulate the telekinetic energy her mind was producing.

At once, her face screwed up with exertion. Everyone glanced from the rod, then to her and back to the rod. It didn't move, but Pallas kept trying. She strained to the point where her brows seemed fused and her arms shook. A small, strangled exclamation escaped from her mouth, a testament to how hard she was trying. But the rod stood rigidly in place. Nervously the other senshi looked back at Pallas, wondering how much longer she could go on and how safe it was for her to do so. Her lips were pulled back, revealing tightly clenched teeth. The senshi's face was flushed from her exertion.

Then she just sank to her knees like a marionette bereft of strings. Her arms dangling at her sides, her breath escaping in quick pants, her head down, Pallas knelt there in the shadow of the rod.

"Pallas is sorry," she wheezed out. "Mister rod is too heavy for her."

"You did your best, Pallas," Sailor Moon assured her. While the others tried to hide their disappointment, Sailor Moon turned inward. "I'm stuck, Helios," she thought. "Got any suggestions?"

"It seems to be constructed of the same black energy which the other Usagi wields," she felt Helios think. "Which would follow, if she is the one who made this. Perhaps rather than to seek its destruction or disposal, you should seek to neutralize it instead."

"Yeah. It's worth a shot. Thanks, Helios." Then Sailor Moon paused. "You called her 'Usagi'."

"I did," Helios thought back.

"Not Maiden?"

"I reserve that title only for the woman I fell in love with."

Feeling her heart skip a beat, Sailor Moon forced herself to the problem at hand. Focusing her attention back to reality, she found everyone looking at her, waiting for her next command. In reply, she summoned the pink crystal from her chest. The energy from the crystal displaced the air around it, kicking up a small breeze that blew at her skirt and the twin trails of pink hair from her head.

"What are you going to do?" Juno asked.

"We can't get it out of the ground," Sailor Moon responded. "I'm going to try to neutralize it."

Raising the crystal above her head, Sailor Moon fell into a light trance. Waves of pink energy began flowing from the crystal, blanketing the area. The waves washed over the rod, trying to engulf it as water would engulf a fire. The watching senshi noticed the level of black energy instantly dimmed. The aura of the rod shrank back to a certain point, but would shrink no further. Doggedly Sailor Moon continued to bathe the rod in energy from her crystal. The displaced air was blowing at everyone's skirts and hair now. And onward Sailor Moon pressed.

"She's not going to do it," Vesta verbalized what everybody else was thinking. "She's got it on the ropes, but she can't put it down."

Despite Vesta's low voice, Sailor Moon heard the comment. It was nothing she wasn't already thinking. Neutralizing the energy clearly needed a level of power that she didn't have yet. She reached for more and no more was there. If only Saturn were here. If they merged their energies, it could be done. She was sure of it. There didn't seem to be anything she couldn't do if Saturn was with her. The fear and worry over her friend nipped at her courage. Still Sailor Moon pressed on.

"Maybe I can help?"

The voice belonged to Parallel Moon. Glancing at her, Sailor Moon saw the senshi had her own crystal out, the crystal radiating crimson energy. For a moment Sailor Moon felt suspicion and she didn't know why.

"I'm probably not up to your level, Sailor Moon," she qualified.

"Every little bit helps," Sailor Moon said.

Nodding, Sailor Parallel Moon lifted her crystal over her head and mimicked the actions of Sailor Moon. New energy flooded in, attacking the rod from the other side. The energy was different, like Saturn's was different, but strangely compatible with her. In a way, it was like merging her power with her mother, but to a far lesser extent. Once more Sailor Moon was struck by the unfamiliar sensation of suddenly having a sibling.

Still the rod resisted them. It amazed the young princess that this Usagi had gained so much power from embracing her dark side. She thought back to the time at D-Point, when Metallia had taken control of her body. It had always been her assumption that the destructive energy that poured forth from her had been Metallia's energy. But now she wondered if Metallia had just tapped into her dark energy.

The thought chilled her.

"It's still not enough," Ceres said.

"Maybe we need to help them," Pallas suggested.

The Asteroids glanced at each other and silently nodded. Joining hands, the four senshi summoned their individual energies and projected them to their princess. The rush of power gave Sailor Moon renewed vigor and she hurled it at the rod. This had to work.

The Asteroids were the first to give out. The fatigue of battle and the drain of their energy finally took its toll. Sailor Moon felt their projected energy fade. Then Parallel Moon sank to one knee, her crystal dimmed and her spirit broken. The senshi looked up at the rod. She didn't want to give in, to admit defeat. But she didn't have anything left to throw at it.

"You couldn't do it, could you?" a voice came from above. Sailor Moon looked up and found her mirror image hovering above them. "It was too strong for you." Levitating to the ground, the being they'd only known as Black Lady stood with her back to the Asteroids and Parallel Moon at her feet. She stared directly into Sailor Moon's eyes. "Go home. Go back to your time. I don't have anything against you. I'm not going to blame you for the fortune you've had in your life. Go home and take your senshi with you. If you stay here, you're going to die."

"What about them?" Sailor Moon asked, gesturing abstractly behind her. "What about all the people of this Earth? They didn't do anything to you, either! And you're just going to snuff their lives out because you feel hurt and betrayed? What would Mom and Pop say about that?"

"They'd say I have to make amends," her double replied.

Sailor Moon stared. And Sailor Moon's eyes grew to saucers. Unseen, Ceres produced some spores in her hand and gently blew them up toward Black Lady.

"We really are mirror images, aren't we," Black Lady smiled sadly. "Now take your senshi and go."

"You know I can't do that," Sailor Moon responded. "And you know I'm not leaving without Hotaru."

Black Lady was about to respond. Suddenly the spores around her sprang into life, growing into a flowering vine that quickly wrapped around Black Lady's throat and lower face. Caught off guard, she couldn't prevent the vine from instantly withering and exploding into dust into her face. She wobbled for a few moments, struggling with consciousness, then sank to the pavement just feet away from Parallel Moon. The senshi quickly converged.

"What did you do?" Parallel Moon asked Ceres.

"Used a plant that turns into an anesthetic powder when dried," Ceres replied. "I figured I could take her by surprise since she was so preoccupied with Sailor Moon."

"I wish you hadn't done that," they were surprised to hear Sailor Moon say.

"Sorry," Ceres replied sarcastically. "I figured it was the best way to stop her."

"But she was our last hope of neutralizing that rod," Sailor Moon persisted.

"She wasn't going to stop that rod!" barked Vesta. "She's the one who made it!"

"Black Lady made it," Sailor Moon maintained.

"Are you saying she's not Black Lady anymore?" Juno inquired. Hope seemed to swell in Parallel Moon.

"Can we run the risk?" Vesta countered. "She's a danger to everything! We've got her now! I don't think we can take the risk of her waking up! She's too powerful!"

"But she's the only one who can neutralize that black energy rod," Juno reminded her. "And she's the only one who knows where Sailor Saturn is. And besides, we can't just kill her."

"We may not have a choice," Vesta argued.

"No!" Parallel Moon said sharply, more forcefully than anything she'd previously said. "We can't just kill her! No matter what she's done, we can't kill her!"

"Lady, she doesn't deserve your mercy!" Vesta argued. "She'd kill you as soon as look at you, given the chance! And she's trying to off the whole planet!"

"But part of that is my fault!" Parallel Moon wailed. "I hurt her. I know I hurt her. I made her into this!"

"That doesn't change what she is now," Ceres told her.

Punctuating Ceres' statement, the ground suddenly shook. Having experienced earthquakes before, everyone recognized the sensation. But this was stronger than any quake they'd gone through. The anti-earthquake shock-absorbing insulation that all Tokyo buildings now carried in their foundations kept the structures from swaying. But everything else shook violently. A rumble muffled by the surface of the world was felt by them all. Anxiously Vesta looked around, stepping protectively toward Pallas. A crack formed in the street pavement and shot off into the distance for forty feet. The ground shook for a full twenty seconds before the quake died out. A dog was heard barking in the distance.

"I think we're going to have to do something quick," Juno said. "That's the strongest one I ever felt."

Sailor Moon consulted her PDA.

"Pop's computer is gathering news reports from all over the world," she announced. "There's volcanic eruptions in Fiji, Colombia, Mexico and Alaska. Earthquakes reported along the California and Peruvian coastlines."

"It's like the entire Pacific plate is destabilizing," Juno concluded.

While the others talked, Ceres noticed that Parallel Moon had moved to the side and was sitting down on a curb, her head in her hands. She walked over and knelt down beside her.

"We'll find a way," Ceres offered.

"Sailor Moon?" Parallel Moon asked, not looking up. "If anyone can, she can. She's so much like Onee-Chan. So driven, so commanding. She has so much of Daddy in her." Her lip quivered. "Why did I do it?"

"Go after Helios?" Ceres asked.

"I knew she loved him," Parallel Moon lamented. "Even if she was taking him for granted. But I wanted him. He was so - - beautiful. He made me feel like I was a grown up woman. Like I didn't have to be in Onee-Chan's shadow anymore. That I could have something that she didn't have."

Ceres listened silently.

"I didn't even think about what trouble it might cause. I've always been like that. I want it and I go all out to have it," Parallel Moon continued. "Mama didn't say anything, but I know now that she was worried about how Onee-Chan would react. She didn't want to see Onee-Chan hurt, but she didn't want to hurt me, either." She emitted a sickened sigh. "And now everything is going to be destroyed! I should have gone back in time and stopped myself from doing this!"

"Parallel Moon," Ceres tried to interject.

"Then everyone would be alive! And Onee-Chan wouldn't be this way!" She leaped to her feet and looked up at the heavens. "Diana! Please come and get me! Take me back so I can stop all of this! Please, Diana!"

"I doubt Pluto would let you," Sailor Moon said. She was off to Parallel Moon's left, about ten feet away. "If she wouldn't let me go back, she won't let you. And I guess it wouldn't change things, now that I think of it. It only splinters time into more streams."

"THEN WHAT DO WE DO?" wailed Parallel Moon.

"You could try apologizing," came a voice that sounded like Sailor Moon, but was from further away and behind her.

"She shouldn't be awake yet!" Ceres gasped in surprise. Vesta crouched, ready to attack.

"How much did you hear?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Almost all of it," Usagi replied. She pushed up into a sitting position on the pavement, but didn't make any further moves. "I never thought I'd ever hear her admit she started this."

"And that's it?" gasped Parallel Moon. "I just apologize and you'll get over all of this and stop terrorizing everyone? All of this destruction and that's all it would have taken to stop it?"

"Don't flatter yourself. Once I tapped into the dark side of the crystal, I was too far gone. The dark side of the crystal is like a drug. You're suddenly able to do so much, you can't stop. You get so caught up in it, you don't realize what you're doing," grumbled Usagi. "I had to be shown what I'd become, from the one person I can trust."

Sailor Moon looked at her twin, wondering if she could take those words as a sign that Hotaru was still alive somewhere.

"I was already over it," Usagi continued. She wasn't really looking at anybody. "Yeah, an apology would do it. All you really did was steal my boyfriend." Then she bowed her head, but not quick enough to hide her shame. "It's not like you - - killed anybody."

Getting up from where she sat, Parallel Moon approached her sister. Usagi wouldn't look up until the senshi was about fifteen feet from her. Locking eyes, Usagi could see the pain and the guilt in her sister's eyes, the tear that was rolling down her cheek, the quiver of emotion in her lower lip. For her part, Parallel Moon could see the pain and the guilt Usagi now felt. She wasn't Black Lady anymore; not really. She was closer to her older sister Usagi now.

Parallel Moon sank to her knees before her sister, who was still sitting on the pavement, leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the ground.

"I deeply and sincerely apologize," Parallel Moon said, "Usagi. But even if you can't find it in your heart to forgive me, please don't take your anger out on the planet and the people any longer."

Usagi looked at her sister. Parallel Moon maintained the supplicant position, not moving until her sister spoke.

"Boy, we sure made a mess of things, didn't we?" Usagi said hoarsely. "I doubt Mom and Pop would be very proud of either of us - - me especially."

"I'm sorry I made you hate me," Parallel Moon said, rising up.

"I guess I don't," Usagi admitted. "Not anymore. I just - - when I found out about you and Helios - - something just snapped."

And the ground rumbled again.

"They're getting worse," Sailor Moon cautioned.

"Yeah, that one felt like it's getting into 3/11 territory. I think the anti-tsunami walls have engaged," Usagi concurred. Pushing to her feet, she turned and headed toward the Black Energy Rod. Vesta warily watched her the entire time. "I'd better neutralize this before it's too late."

Sailor Moon reached out and caught Usagi by the arm. The virtual twins looked each other in the eye.

"Need some help?" Sailor Moon asked.

"You should know better than to ask that," Usagi replied with a sad smirk.

"Stubborn little brat," Sailor Moon answered with the same sad smirk. "You don't have to take it all on your shoulders."

"Just do me a favor and get everybody to safety," Usagi said with finality.

"Usagi," Sailor Moon persisted. "Pop would call this a waste."

"Well if he were here to say that," Usagi sighed with a mournful sadness, "maybe I wouldn't do it."

Detaching herself from her double, Usagi approached the rod. Her intent was to smother the rod's energy field with her crystal energy, absorb it into herself to render the rod inert, and be destroyed by the energy as penance. She reached out for the rod with both hands. The black energy flared. And Usagi was flung eight feet away from the rod, landing on the pavement and skidding to a stop near Sailor Pallas.

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. To Summon Our Better Selves

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 11: "To Summon Our Better Selves"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>Luna walked into the Royal Chambers, admitted by the automated security door that was programmed to allow her unchallenged access. In her rounds making certain that the palace was running smoothly and properly, she had noted that the Queen was missing from the halls. Knowing that Serenity had a meeting with the various neighborhood councils in five minutes, Luna had the computer find her location.<p>

She found Serenity sitting in the window, her knees pulled to her chest under her flowing white gown and gazing out over the city. The melancholy in the room was thick enough to cut. Luna was surprised that Rei wasn't here, for surely the priest could feel the Queen's mood.

"Your Majesty," Luna said softly. "Have you forgotten your appointment with the neighborhood councils?"

"Please send them my regrets," Serenity answered softly, never taking her eyes from the horizon. "Ask them if they could reschedule."

"Your Majesty, you must trust in the Princess's abilities," Luna sighed. "Both of the Princesses, in this matter."

Serenity only pulled her legs closer to her chest.

"What are you sensing?" Luna asked.

"I'm having premonitions," Serenity admitted. "Maybe I'm just being a silly old worrier."

"How bad?"

"Death," Serenity forced herself to say. "Both of them."

Then resolution filled her heart and she climbed down out of the window.

"Where are you off to?" Luna demanded.

Serenity didn't answer, so the cat scampered out the door after her.

"Your Majesty!" Luna said sharply.

"No, Luna, you're just going to try to talk me out of it!" Serenity replied, continuing down the corridor.

"You must let the Princess succeed or fail on her own!" Luna argued.

"I won't risk them dying!" Serenity shot back. "She can hate me if she wants to, but I'm not going to lose her! And I'm not going to lose Kousagi again!"

"Your Majesty!" Luna called out, to no avail. Serenity disappeared through the temporal nexus, which Luna couldn't pass through without the Queen's assistance. The cat stood at the portal, invisible to the naked eye, and glared for a moment. "Oh, fuss and bother!" she spat, turned tail and ran for the King's computer room.

Quite familiar with the temporal anomaly that housed the Door Of Time, Queen Serenity marched toward the door without hesitation. She expected Sailor Pluto to appear at any moment, as she always did, and was not disappointed. When she was thirty feet from the door, Pluto stepped from the shadows.

She was not alone.

"Q-Queen Serenity!" gasped Diana, her eyes saucers. "But how?"

"Diana," Serenity reacted with mild surprise. "You're here, too?" She saw the cat's spirits fall.

"Oh. Oh, yes," Diana said dejectedly. "You must be from the other Princess's time line."

"My Queen," Pluto said reverently. "Are you in need of my assistance?"

"Take me to where Usa and Kousagi are!" Serenity pleaded. "They're both in terrible danger! I can feel it!"

Pluto lowered her gaze.

"What?" gasped Serenity. "What's happened? Pluto, take me there! Please, you're the only way I can get to her!"

"My Queen, I am sorry," Pluto told her. "But it has already occurred."

Serenity's hands shot up to her mouth. Diana stared up at them in shock.

* * *

><p>Usagi lay on the pavement in shock. The black energy from the rod she herself had driven into the ground had repelled her. Her amazement was shared by everyone watching. Usagi stared at her hands as if they had somehow betrayed her.<p>

"What happened?" Parallel Moon asked.

"I," Usagi began, but she couldn't articulate what happened.

Instead, she pushed to her feet and approached the rod again. The black energy surrounding the rod like an aura crackled defiantly at her. Determined to do the job, Usagi reached up and tried to grip the rod. But the energy proved to be too much for her once more and she was flung backwards, landing in a crouch several yards away.

"Can't you control that thing anymore?" Vesta demanded. "You're the one who made it!"

"Vesta," Sailor Moon said, trying to rein in her senshi. "What is it, Usagi? Is the energy too strong for even you now?"

"It's," she fumbled with her thoughts, "resisting. Not like it's too strong. It's like it doesn't recognize me any longer."

Usagi rose to her feet again. Once more determination exuded from her. She cupped her hands over her chest.

"I will do this, though!" she proclaimed. "I'm the one who brought all of this mayhem about. I'm the one who has to make amends."

Usagi's crystal emerged from her chest. Immediately Sailor Moon saw the problem. The crystal was pink, just like hers. It wasn't black. There weren't even streaks of black. There was no corruption to the crystal at all.

"Usagi, you've lost your connection to the dark side of your crystal!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.

Looking down, Usagi found that it was true. The crystal glowed with a pink light that seemed pure and energetic.

"I don't," Usagi stammered, staring down at the crystal. "How? After everything that happened? After everything I did?"

"You're not angry anymore," Parallel Moon suggested. "Guilt and remorse aren't as dark of emotions as anger and hatred are. You've finally come around to thinking that everyone isn't out to get you. You're no longer consumed by thoughts of revenge and transferring your pain to everybody else."

"And you're no longer connected with the black energy of your crystal," Sailor Moon concluded.

Usagi whirled and looked back up at the rod crackling with black energy and jutting up out of the earth. As if to mock her, another earthquake rumbled through the city.

"Man, I have the worst timing in the universe!" wailed Usagi. Sailor Moon suddenly appeared beside her and put her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Then we'll have to do this together," she said to her temporal twin. "There's not much choice."

"Yeah, I suppose there isn't," Usagi answered.

"And you'll just have to live with the consequences of your actions," Sailor Moon added.

"That's going to be fun," Usagi replied sourly.

Together they looked back at the looming rod.

Stepping away from Sailor Moon, Usagi lifted her crystal into the air. The pink glow of the miraculous gem flared brilliantly. Displaced air began to play with the hems of everyone's skirt and with the trails of hair Usagi had, and Sailor Moon had, and Parallel Moon as well. Responding to Usagi's will, the crystal's radiance grew bright. It moved toward the rod, trying to smother the malevolent energy in a radiant cocoon of pink. The energy resisted, snapping and popping as the pink radiance touched it. An aftershock shook the area, but Usagi stood firm and continued to pour her pink radiance onto the angry black energy.

Out of Sailor Moon's chest slid her own crystal. Sailor Moon cupped it between her hands and raised it high above her head. Usagi sensed the additional energy and glanced at her. Their eyes met and a timid smile crossed Usagi's face. Sailor Moon knew what she was thinking.

Together their crystals blanketed the black energy field of the great rod. Together they tried to smother the evil in the energy, to quell the rage, the frustration and the painful loss that spawned the energy and spurred it on. But the energy fought back, fought to survive and grow against the force that sought its demise. Usagi and Sailor Moon poured their souls into their crystals, trying to overwhelm the dark energy and crush it.

"Think they can do it?" Vesta asked as the Asteroids stared pensively.

"We're cooked if they can't," Ceres responded.

Pallas watched in fascination, sensing the emotions the energies had. Vesta glanced at her, hoping for some clue on how the fight was going. Then she noticed Parallel Moon standing off to the side of Pallas.

"Why don't you try helping them?" Vesta asked.

"What can I do?" Parallel Moon asked. She was silently praying for the two Usagis to succeed as well.

"You're her sister. That means you're a princess of the royal house, too," Vesta persisted. "Maybe three of you . . ."

"I'm not in Onee-Chan's league. I never worked very hard at it - - not as hard as she did. I never wanted to be Sailor Parallel Moon. And now with two of them . . . I'd just get in the way."

"Yeah, but . . ." Vesta began. Then a hand tugged on her skirt. She turned and found Pallas looking up at her.

"We have to help the Princess," Pallas said and extended her hand to Vesta. Her other hand already was clasping Juno's hand.

"Hope it works this time," Vesta nodded and took her hand.

"Asteroids Power!" they shouted in unison. A power aura rose up from the four senshi, shimmered in the sunlight, then projected toward Sailor Moon. Though she said nothing, they could see that Sailor Moon felt the added energy flowing into her. The pink crystal cupped between her hands shone just a little more brightly.

But the black energy surrounding the rod continued to resist being converted. Tenaciously the power clung to the rod, resisting the effort to change it into something more benign. Sailor Moon could feel the strain begin again. It was a familiar feeling. She'd felt it before, when she was trying to quell the rod on her own, and when she was trying to fend off Metallia. It was that sick, fearful feeling that everything she had wouldn't be enough to succeed.

Usagi suddenly collapsed to her knees. Her crystal returned to her body. She knelt on the ground, head down and gasping for air. The black energy's resistance was even stronger now. Realizing the futility of continuing, Sailor Moon ended her attack and her jewel returned to her chest. An awkward silence flooded over everyone.

"Do we try again?" Juno asked.

"There's no point," Sailor Moon said bitterly. "We're not strong enough to take this thing out. Maybe if we'd started when it was first created. But it's too strong now."

"Then," Ceres began hesitantly, "everyone's going to die?"

"No," Parallel Moon gasped. "No, it can't be! There has to be a way! There has to be a way to save everybody! Mama would save everybody!"

"Well Mom's not here!" cried Usagi. "I saw to that."

Another aftershock rumbled through the city of Crystal Tokyo. Sailor Moon looked at Usagi and knew exactly how she felt. Then an idea came to her. Judging by Usagi's reaction, the same idea came to her at the same moment. The temporal twin got to her feet.

"Usagi," Sailor Moon began, her tone anxious and warning.

"You thought of it, too, didn't you?" Usagi asked, glancing at her double. "You know it's the only way."

"Maybe not," Sailor Moon cautioned her. "Maybe if you bring Saturn back."

"I can't do that."

"Why?" Sailor Moon asked anxiously.

"My way is the only way," Usagi maintained.

"Maybe if we shared . . ."

"And maybe we'd both get consumed by it," Usagi stopped her. "It's better this way. It's better I take all of the risk."

"Risk? Consumed?" Parallel Moon spoke up. "What are you thinking?"

Usagi didn't answer. She just turned and started walking toward the rod.

"Sailor Moon, what is she thinking?" Parallel Moon demanded.

"She's going to max out her crystal," Sailor Moon answered, watching her double approach the rod. "She's going to use everything she is to neutralize that rod - - just like Mom did to resurrect her senshi against Queen Beryl."

"But that'll kill her, won't it?" Parallel Moon gasped.

As she approached the rod, Usagi underwent a transformation. Her clothes changed into a flowing gown with puffed sleeves and the pearl brocade bodice. Princess Usagi had arrived. Air displacement from the rod's energy pressed the gown against her young body and sent the train flowing behind her, as did her twin trails of pink hair.

"She's been prepared to die ever since she came down from being Black Lady again," Sailor Moon answered.

"Well, we have to help her! Help her so she doesn't die!" Parallel Moon exclaimed.

"I fully intend to," Sailor Moon said resolutely. As if cued, the Asteroids gathered behind her to offer their assistance.

That's when Princess Usagi whirled on them. Extending her crystal out from her body, she launched a massive pulse of pink energy from her. The energy enveloped Sailor Moon and her senshi before any of them could react. Flaring intensely, the energy momentarily overwhelmed the vision of Parallel Moon. When the energy dissipated, they were gone, leaving Parallel Moon staring in absolute shock.

"Did," Parallel Moon stammered, "did you kill them?"

Disgusted, Princess Usagi ignored her.

"Why?" she gasped. Turning on her sister, her face screwed up in anguish, Parallel Moon shouted, "Why?"

"I sent them back to their time. I have to do this," Princess Usagi replied. "I have to be the one to take the risk."

"Why?"

Princess Usagi whirled on her sister. "Haven't you been listening? To make up for what I did! To try to ease the overwhelming guilt that I feel like I'm drowning in! To stop what I started and save everyone from what I did! It's about taking responsibility! It's the first step I can take to making up for the horrible crimes I've committed! And if I die doing it," and Princess Usagi choked up for a moment, "then at least I won't feel crushed by the inescapable guilt anymore."

Turning away from her sister, Princess Usagi kept approaching the rod, even though waves of black energy buffeted her. Each step became a strain. It was like she was walking headlong into a hurricane. She leaned forward to gain ground against it. There were just inches between her and her devilish creation and everyone wondered if she was going to make it.

But the vaunted stubbornness of the Princess Usagi won out. Lunging out, she caught the rod around the base and wrapped her arms around it. Her face was pressed against the smooth metal. The discomfort she felt from this act was plain for everyone to see. Then an aura of pink began to shine from her. It grew steadily, neutralizing the black in her immediate vicinity.

Parallel Moon had been forgotten. Princess Usagi focused the entirety of her being into generating enough pink energy to swallow up the black energy rod and destroy it. She could feel the strain through her head and chest. The black energy aura was diminished, but still resisting. Princess Usagi shut out the pain, shut out everything and focused on the sole thought of making her creation disappear. That's why it was a momentary surprise to her when Princess Kousagi, wearing her own flowing white gown with puffed sleeves and pearl brocade bodice, grasped the rod in the same bear hug from the other side.

"What are you doing?" Usagi whispered to her sister. The pain Kousagi felt was evident on her face and mirrored what Usagi was feeling.

"Helping," she responded.

"Kou, no!" Usagi hissed.

"This is as much my fault as it is yours," Kousagi told her. "Neither one of us did anything to make Mama and Daddy proud of us."

"You'll be killed!"

"Maybe not. Not if we both do this. Two maxed out crystals are better than one."

"But . . ."

"Quiet!" Kousagi snapped, tears welling in her eyes. "If you die - - then I won't have anything left. Did you honestly expect me to want to live if I lose everything? I can help you get through this! And if I don't - - well I'd rather die with you than be left without you, too. Don't fight it, Onee-Chan. You're not going to win this one."

Usagi gave her a small smile. "As if I ever won any of them."

A crimson aura flared around Kousagi. The energy merged with Usagi's pink aura and swirled around the rod. The black energy the rod gave off began to change. White light came from the spot where the rod was embedded in the ground. The light grew, growing brighter as it grew. As the intensity of the light strengthened, the few denizens of Crystal Tokyo brave enough to come out of hiding and watch had more and more trouble seeing. Finally they had to look away as the light engulfed Princess Usagi, Princess Kousagi, the rod and everything around it. The harsh white of the light engulfed everyone and everything in stark blank nothing. And for a moment the people could only wonder if this was the end of everything.

Then the white faded. The people rose from their protective crouch and looked to where the rod had been. There was no trace left, of the rod or of the pair of princesses who paid for childish indiscretions and petulant mayhem with their futures.

Concluded in Chapter 12


	12. Does The Loss Equal The Gained

THE OTHER DAUGHTER  
>Chapter 12: "Does The Loss Equal The Gained"<br>A neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

><p>In confusion, the Asteroids looked around. They were surrounded by the twilight mists of the limbo where the Door Of Time resided. Vesta visibly relaxed.<p>

"Boy, when I saw Black Lady hit us with that energy blast, I thought we were cooked!" Vesta gasped.

"Her name was Usagi, not Black Lady," Sailor Moon said with some irritation. "Not at the end." And she began scanning the area she knew so well.

"What are you looking for?" Juno asked.

"The Door Of Time," Sailor Moon replied. "I have to find a way back. I have to help her."

"Don't you think she can do it?"

"Not alone. The crystal has limits," Sailor Moon explained. "It draws from your energy and magnifies it. But if you ask it to do too much, it draws everything you have - - and you die."

"Isn't that what she wanted?" Juno said.

"It doesn't matter!" Sailor Moon said stubbornly. "I'm not going to let her take the easy way out! She still has so much she can do!"

"You really want to make her live the rest of her life with the knowledge that she killed her parents and her love?" Ceres asked, askance. Sailor Moon stopped. Her shoulders slumped.

"She's the only one who knows what happened to Saturn," Sailor Moon squeaked. Then her shoulders squared. "Besides, what kind of a person would I be if I let her sacrifice herself when I could help. Mom wouldn't do that."

Taking off suddenly, Sailor Moon plunged into the mists. The Asteroids scrambled to catch up to her. But they were all brought up short when Sailor Pluto suddenly stepped out of the mists directly in Sailor Moon's path.

"My Lady," Pluto nodded. "Please follow me."

"Are you going to take me to the Door?" Sailor Moon asked, a quaver of anxiety escaping into her tone despite her best efforts.

But Pluto said nothing. Realizing that she was headed in the direction of the Door, Sailor Moon fell in behind her.

"Do you suppose Miss Saturn-Ma'am is all right?" Pallas wondered out loud.

"I hope so," Juno reassured her. "Are you picking up anything from Sailor Pluto?"

Pallas shook her head. "Pallas can't seem to hear Miss Pluto-Ma'am's thoughts." She glanced around the limbo and shivered. "This place is spooky."

If Pluto heard them, she gave no sign.

* * *

><p>Serenity's hands shot up to her mouth. Diana stared up at the pair in shock.<p>

"No," she whimpered, doubling over from the distress she felt. Diana's attention turned solicitously to her. Then the Queen straightened up. "Pluto, it can't be too . . .!"

But Pluto was gone.

"Behind you, My Queen," Pluto said. Serenity whirled around and found Pluto walking up, flanked by Sailor Moon and the four Asteroid senshi.

"USA!" she wailed and flung herself at her child. Sailor Moon was shoved back two steps as the Queen trapped the senshi in a bear hug and buried her face in the kerchief of the senshi's fuku. Helpless to do anything else, Sailor Moon curled her arms around her mother's middle. They held each other for a few moments while the Queen soaked her daughter's kerchief with her tears.

Then Serenity's head shot up. Anxiously she looked around, her eyes finally coming to rest on her daughter's.

"Where's Kousagi?" Serenity asked desperately.

"I am sorry, My Queen," Pluto announced. "My Lady. Both sisters were consumed by the energies needed to save Earth in the parallel time."

And the Queen's tears flowed anew, these accompanied by the most pitiful wails. Sailor Moon actually had to hold her mother up to keep the woman from collapsing at her feet. And it was a struggle, because she wasn't feeling very strong herself at that moment. As the Queen sobbed, Pluto turned to the Diana of the other time line.

"Your time has need of you, Diana," Pluto said. "It stands with a grave path before it. Your mother and father will need your help for the task ahead."

"Both the princesses are gone?" Diana asked, heart-sick. Pluto nodded solemnly. Resisting the urge to break down, Diana turned and headed for the door of time. At the door, she paused and turned back to Pluto.

"It was nice seeing . . ." the cat began.

But Pluto and the denizens of the other time line were no longer there. It was as if she'd dreamed them all.

"But you know better, don't you Diana?" she mumbled to herself and passed through the door.

* * *

><p>With the aid of Juno and Ceres, Sailor Moon passed the Queen and the others through the temporal nexus into their present. Though the uncertainty of Saturn's fate gnawed at her, the Princess focused on helping her mother. Saturn would just have to hold on a little longer - - wherever she was. Because she couldn't be dead. Sailor Moon refused to believe it was possible that . . .<p>

"Sailor Moon!"

And Saturn was there, in the corridor outside of the temporal nexus, waiting. Overcome by a wave of emotion, Sailor Moon wrenched away from her mother and enveloped Sailor Saturn in the same crushing bear hug that her mother had caught her in earlier. Saturn was actually lifted off of her feet.

"Saturn! You're all right! I thought," Sailor Moon began as the others looked on happily. "Well, I didn't know what to think! How did you get here?"

"Usagi," Saturn answered once her feet regained the floor. "She teleported me back to this time line. I've been here ever since, waiting for you, because I can't pass through the nexus." The girl looked down, embarrassed. "For a moment - - when she fired that black energy at me - - I thought it was all over. But I guess deep down she wasn't evil after all."

"No," Sailor Moon answered.

"Did she . . .?" Saturn asked.

Sailor Moon shook her head.

She turned to take her mother back to their quarters, but Rei was already there and taking Serenity into her care. Sadly Sailor Moon and the senshi watched the two go.

"Sailor Moon, I'm sorry," Saturn offered. The transformation faded and Helios stepped from her form. He, too, looked at Usa with sadness and concern.

"Thanks," the Princess mumbled. "She was so angry. She just wanted to destroy everything that was important to Kousagi. Only she didn't realize that those same things were important to her, too. Not until it was too late." She turned to the Asteroids, now returning to civilian form. "Thank you, everyone." Cere nodded while the others looked on sympathetically. Usa turned to Helios. "Doing anything right now?"

"Yes," Helios responded. "I believe I will be sitting with you."

Usa molded herself against Helios and the pair walked off.

* * *

><p>It was a somber mood in the Palace Of Crystal Tokyo. Queen Serenity was desolate over losing Kousagi a second time, and there was an old saying in the land: "When Queen Serenity is sad, the entire country weeps in her stead so she won't have to stain her gown." People began gathering in the streets surrounding the palace, bearing gifts and wondering what else they could do to make the Queen smile again. For many of them lived for her smile.<p>

"Do this, go there," muttered Diana as she slipped into Usa's room through the door. "I'm not your personal maid, Mother. The Queen will get better. You just need to give her time. It was a terrible blow . . ."

At that point the gray cat realized that she wasn't alone in the room. Usa was laying on her side on the bed, her back to the door. The cat felt a moment of embarrassment at having been caught muttering to herself. It was just that Luna could be so infuriating some times.

Then she got a feeling that something wasn't quite right. It was nothing overt, but the visual cues she was getting from the silent figure didn't add up. Softly she padded over and leaped up onto the bed. Angling her head to see Usa's face gave her the answers she sought.

"A tissue might do a better job than your thumb," Diana suggested gently. Usa flushed slightly. Even in the low light, Diana could see the puffy eyes of her princess. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I heard the story. It was quite the tragic ending."

"Tragic," mumbled Usa.

"My Lady," Diana began, "your twin and her sister chose to make their sacrifice out of a need to protect others and a need to take responsibility for their actions."

"I know all of that," Usa said softly. "That Usagi did exactly what I would have done. She did what I would have expected her to do. What - - Pop would have expected her to do."

Diana stared. "Is it something else?"

Usa inhaled deeply. "She acted exactly how I would have acted to neutralize that rod and save Earth."

"And . . .?"

Usa didn't answer right away. "So if I somehow lost Helios," she finally spoke, "would I react the same way she did?"

A familiar helplessness fell over Diana.

"This frightened you," she observed.

"Of course it did," Usa frowned. "I saw a twisted mirror image of me, one that became a danger to everybody because she gave in to the petty, immature feelings that lurk inside of me all the time."

"Which makes you human."

"Helios said that, too, but you're both missing the point," Usa argued. "I can't afford to be human. I can't afford to give in to my immature side. I have too much power - - physical power and in the future governmental power. I can't afford to give in to those dark urges. I saw what happens when I do that; like I needed another example after Wise Man. I'm not a Princess, I'm a ticking time bomb . . ."

"Oh, rubbish!" Diana fumed. "This other Usagi lost control during an emotionally vulnerable time. It wasn't inevitable for her and it's not inevitable for you."

"But the possibility is still there," countered Usa. "That's what Desdaemona was trying to show me."

"Then don't let it happen," Diana advised her.

Usa stared at the cat.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Diana nodded. "Life is a series of trials and errors. Sometimes we make errors and it's too late to correct them. But it's a crime to make an error and learn nothing from it. And you've an advantage in this instance. Here you've been shown the consequences of an error without actually having to suffer those consequences. This is a unique learning experience. My advice is to learn from it. Don't punish yourself because you made the error. Make certain that you don't make it again." She gave the girl a cynical look. "But I suppose sitting around whining 'woe is me' is easier than learning your lesson."

"Helios wasn't this hard on me," Usa pouted.

"Well Helios is reluctant to expose you to harsher realities due to," and she glanced at the girl's womanly body, "other considerations. Sometimes humans need their cats to show them where the unvarnished truth lies."

"Yeah," Usa mused quietly. "Maybe that was the secret behind Mom's success: Luna."

"Well, I'll grant you that Mother did have some SMALL influence on Her Majesty," Diana replied. "But the basic greatness has always been within her, just as it's always been within you. The Queen just never believed it. And there's that saying: 'Like mother, like daughter'."

"Yeah," Usa said with a cynical grin, a grin aimed right at the little gray cat. "I sure can see the truth in that saying right about now."

"Personally," sniffed Diana with haughty aloofness, a gesture that greatly resembled another cat who lived in the palace, "I have no clue as to what you're referring to."

Confident that her friend's self-assurance had been at least partially restored, Diana hopped down to the floor and headed for her favorite sleeping nook in the closet. As she did, she recalled something her mother had always said about knowing when to guide the Queen when she was younger and when to "boot her in the rear".

"I guess Mother is right," Diana mused, "about A FEW things, anyway."

* * *

><p>Cere entered the common room of the quarters she shared with the other Asteroids dressed in a tight metallic red strapless gown slit up one side to the hip. She had black hose on underneath, red high heeled shoes and white opera gloves. Her magenta hair was styled in an upsweep, revealing an aquiline neck and silver teardrop earrings. Jun whistled.<p>

"Somebody's on the prowl," she smirked.

"I am NOT on the prowl," Cere scowled. "Just because I want to look nice doesn't mean I'm on the prowl. There's an exhibition tonight and it happens to be very fancy dress."

"Well that outfit definitely says 'fancy'," Jun nodded. "It also says 'stalking predator'."

Cere grinned. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"This exhibition wouldn't happen to be of art by Hikaru Kuroda, would it?"

"Could be," Cere responded coyly. "I want to see if my portrait is in the exhibition. And I don't think we'll be needed anytime soon. Usa's getting back to normal and even the Queen is beginning to perk up a little. And I need some 'me' time."

"And you hope Kuroda might be there and be overwhelmed by your vampirish beauty," Jun teased.

"Vampirish?" Cere responded, aghast. "Sure, it would be nice to see Kuroda-San. But he's not interested in me. Not as date material, anyway. I'm just an interesting subject to paint. And I think I'm the wrong sex."

"You know this?" Jun asked.

"Well he's not interested, so it stands to reason."

"You sound disappointed."

"Well, I have had a few naughty dreams about him," Cere admitted. Then she shrugged. "But you can't force these things. Hey, take your compliments where you get them and move on."

The exhibition was crowded. Hikaru Kuroda was one of the growing sensations of the local art scene and the affair was attended by art critics, art worshippers and people wanting to associate with the famous and trendy. Cere was complimented more than once on her look, but she could see that she was just one more glamorous girl in a sea of glamor. As such, she concentrated on the paintings.

After a while, she found her portrait, hanging next to a powerful portrait of a sunset. Looking at the portrait, Cere felt a thrill pass through her. He'd captured her likeness, but there was more. There was an audacity to the curve of her hip. There was a majesty to the way she stood. The way the light hit the woman in the picture made her larger than life. And the eyes just held you in a way Cere never seemed to see in the bathroom mirror. Her chest swelled with pride. If she had the money, she'd buy it on the spot.

"I don't think it captured you," a voice came from behind her.

Cere turned and found Hikaru Kuroda standing behind her. He was in a tuxedo, though on him it seemed wrong, out of character. But those same smoldering eyes were behind his thick black frame glasses and his black hair was still wind-tossed and unkempt.

"Kuroda-San," Cere exclaimed in surprise. "Um, I think it looks great."

"Then you can't see the flaws I see," he frowned. "But it's the best I could do at the time."

"I'm sorry you're disappointed," Cere replied.

"It just gives me incentive to do better," he shrugged. "People think capturing beauty on canvas is easy. 'Just paint what you see.' But they don't see what I see."

Cere looked at him. He didn't care. He disapproved of the picture, but he wasn't going to regret it. Cere marveled. He was so complex.

Suddenly he clasped Cere's hand.

"This place has suddenly become boring," he observed. "I'm going to take you to dinner."

"B-But," Cere gasped. "The exhibition? It's for you!"

"It's for my work," he shrugged. "It can get along without me."

"But all of these people . . .!"

"Are here to see and be seen by each other, so they can feel elite," Kuroda maintained. "I doubt one in ten give a damn about my work and out of those, only one in ten understands it."

"But," Cere continued to protest.

"Don't you understand?" Kuroda responded, staring so intently at Cere that he was overpowering. "I don't want to be with all of these people. I want to be alone in a restaurant with an incredibly beautiful woman."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Cere asked, smiling.

"So beautiful my art couldn't capture it all," Kuroda replied. Then he smiled confidently. "So I'm just going to have to capture it another way."

"Definitely not gay," she thought.

Cere smirked. "You think it's going to be THAT easy?"

"Nothing worthwhile is ever THAT easy," Kuroda winked.

And together they scurried out of the exhibition, hand in hand.

Conclusion


End file.
